GENTLE SPIRIT

Philippians 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

I chose this verse today because many people abuse this verse. The King James version is not well translated for us in this particular verse because of the word moderation. When we see that word, moderation, we think of staying in the middle, not doing things to excess, or it’s ok to do some things just don’t do them in the excess. Well, maybe that’s true and maybe that’s not true; it depends on what you are talking about. If we are talking about sin, sin in moderation leads to death in moderation, so to speak. If you are talking about eating pie, moderation to me may be different than it is to you. So, how should this be translated? The Amplified Classic says it this way, “Let all men know and perceive and recognize your unselfishness (your considerateness, your forbearing spirit). The Lord is near (He is coming soon).” The Word in the Greek translated “moderation” is epieikes and it means to be gentle, mild, forbearing, fair, reasonable, moderate.

Paul was winding up His letter to the Church at Philippi, and He was giving some bullet points and one of them was this. The Lord is coming back soon, so how you treat other people is a big deal. It seems to me the Holy Ghost is saying how you act is so important; you are an Epistle read of all men, so act like it. I want you to be gentle, mild, fair and be reasonable with people. When we do these things, we will draw people to the Lord. How much does this matter today? If every believer were to act reasonable, fair, and would be patient with people, especially those they disagree with, the love of God would win people to the Lord. Or do we take the modern approach and act like the world, harsh, unreasonable, no patience, if you don’t agree with me, you are my enemy? How contrary to the Word and the Spirit of God is that? Let’s do it the Word way and get Word results!