Gentleness

When my son was just born and I got to hold him for the first time, besides being incredibly tired from being awake all night, it was incredible to hold someone that was so incredibly small and fragile. In that moment I knew what it meant to be gentle. I was careful with how I handled my son, how I held him making sure his head was supported. Now that he is nearly three I am not nearly as gentle with him. In fact just a few minutes ago I was throwing him up as high in the air as I could to his complete joy. He loved it. In fact he kept asking me to do it again. 

It is the same way with people, especially new Christians. We have to be gentle in the way we handle other people. Sometimes we are too quick to be critical of another persons choices or life styles. Now I am not sugesting that we accept and condone a sinful lifestyle. I am however sugesting that if you have just met a person, you are not in a position to confront the issue. Instead you should handle the person with care just like you would handle a new born. As time will go on and you build a relationship with the individual you will be able to be a little rougher with them and confront them on issues in a loving way. But too often we don't allow for the time and the relationship to build to a point where we have the trust of the other individual and they can trust what we say to be in their best interest.