Practice Gentleness

 

 When we are tired, we can be abrupt or short with each other, with our families and with our kids. Our corrections of misbehavior or annoyances can be translated in an elevated tone.  How many times have we yelled out ” Pick up your trash” or “Come on! Let’s go!” in a tone that is anything but gentle. Even the mere conversation about where to go out to eat, sometimes can turn into a less than gentle response or tone. Annoyingly, answering ” I don’t care ”

“Well, I don’t care either.” Is life really so exhausting that no one can make a decision? Or respond happily to a simple where should we go eat? 

Why is it when we are stressed out or tired, that we are often the most mean to those we love the most. It’s like all day we’ve put up with the world, so when we are home or with those we most love, we get grumpy pants. 

Without even knowing it, we are responding to everyday life and people with sarcastic or irritated tones. Even if we have to take a deep breath before we answer, it’s better to do that then to spark a fight  or hurt someone’s feelings- or worse yet damage a relationship indefinitely. Our tones, rate of speech and non-verbal communication can really create bad energy in a home. 

Steve and I lately have talked about our need to be more gentle with each other, to stop and listen more. We also need to pay more deliberate attention to each other and the kids. We need to be more attentive and more gentle  in general. We also can’t forget that gentle touch is powerful. Hugs and sweet touches are calming, especially after a stressful day. We must also be empathetic, giving space when needed. 

Lately, our goal that we’ve stated out loud is : Be Gentle. We even use the word as a trigger to encourage or validate “gentle” behavior.

To be gentle is to be  kind, tender, courteous, polite and to practice being graciously tolerant of others despite ourselves.  After all, we are called to walk in a Christ like manner. 

Here are a few bible verses about being gentle:

Proverbs 15:1 

15 A gentle answer turns away wrath,
    but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Boy this is true, how quickly can we get in a fight if we are rude when we answer someone. Being abrupt, short, sarcastic, or being complacent can get us in trouble fast.

James 3:17 

¹⁷ But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

We’ve all met  gentle people, that you can just feel Jesus in them. They are calm, good listeners and slower to respond to situations or irritations.  They truly seem to think before they speak, they are careful with their words or they choose not to comment at all.  There is a purity and maturity that comes from true spirit filled believers. With the Holy Spirits help, we too can have that sweet spirit.

2 Timothy 2: 24And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient.

When we are approached by people who are wanting to learn or are slower than us, we have to be super patient. We’ve all been with people who get irritated with questions, even making us feel dumb.  After you get a few negative responses, you just shut down and don’t want to comment or ask any more questions.  When people who are less learned on a subject, remember that you too have been the one asking the questions, wanting to learn. We have to be careful not to turn people off with prideful or righteous – “know it all” tones. This can come into play when we are witnessing to non-believers or new believers. The last thing we want is to cause someone to stumble in their faith because of our tones or airs. 

Galatians 5: 22: But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Reflection on Gentleness: 

This week pay attention to your tones and responses to people, how are you being received? Are you being gruff? Are you friendly? Are you yelling? talking down? sarcastic? Try being sweet and gentle. Make a conscious decision each day to be “softer”- less harsh. Pick an accountability partner and do a BE GENTLE challenge. You can even do this with a spouse using the code word “gentle” as a trigger to be more gentle or as an acknowledgment that they are being sweet.  

Your Body is a Temple: Healthy Oil of the Week:

Organic Pure Blackseed Oil: Recommended to take a tsp on morning and one before bed. Black seed oil has been shown to have antioxidant properties. These can help relieve inflammation inside the body and on the skin. Cleopatra reportedly used black cumin seed oil for beautiful hair and skin and Hippocrates was fond of using it for digestive troubles. Physicians in the time of the Pharaohs also used black seed as a remedy for colds, headaches, digestive disorders, toothaches, infections, inflammatory disorders and allergies.

 

• Reducing high blood pressure. 
• Reducing high cholesterol high cholesterol
• Improving rheumatoid arthritis symptoms: Reduce inflammatory rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.
• Decreasing asthma symptoms: The anti-inflammatory effects of black seed oil may extend to improving asthma by reducing inflammation in the airways.
• Reducing stomach upset: Eating black seeds or taking black seed oil is associated with relieving stomach pain and cramps. The oil can help to reduce gas, stomach bloating, and the incidence of ulcers as well.
• Been known to shrink cancer tumors in lab rats. 
• Used on wounds and to improve skin conditions.
• Used for autoimmune diseases. 

Vegetarian Recipe: “No Meat” -Taco Meat

“And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” —Genesis 1:30

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, broken into large florets
• Few large raw carrots- peeled and chopped into segments
• 8 ounces mushrooms
• 1 medium yellow onion, quartered
• 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 cup raw  walnuts

Seasoning 

• 2 tablespoons chili powder ( you can add up to 1 tablespoon more if needed)
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1.5 teaspoons oregano
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup of water as needed to cook veggies.

Instructions

1. In a food processor, pulse walnuts and sun dried tomatoes until a fine meal forms. Set aside in a small bowl.
2. Using the same food processor bowl (no need to wash), switch from the s-blade to the shredding attachment.
3. Process the cauliflower, mushrooms, carrots, onions and garlic. Pulse until finely chopped but not pureed.
4. In a large nonstick skillet, cook the shredded vegetables over high heat until the moisture has evaporated and the vegetables are cooked through, about 6 minutes.
5. Add seasoning cook for a minute or so. 
6. Reduce the heat to medium.
7. Add the water and cook for 3-5 minutes until the most of the water has evaporated- a little bit of sauce still in the pan is fine.
8. Use in place of ground taco meat in recipes 
9. When you are done, feel free to add black beans or another bean or even non-gmo organic corn. 
    

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   **Makes a large volume, about 3 pounds of ground beef after cooking. You can get creative using it in enchiladas, Italian dishes etc.