Gentle and Lowly

There are several characteristics that men usually admire. Most of them revolve around power, strength, wealth and success. It's what draws us to leaders. It's probably a big reason why we love and watch sports. It's likely what excites us about thrilling, outdoor adventure that requires skill, endurance and bravery. It no doubt explains why we place such emphasis on winning and personal achievement.

Gentle and lowly are two characteristics that rarely make any one's most admired list, yet these are the very ones that our Lord Jesus Christ used to describe himself in Matthew 11:29---Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Some translations replace lowly with humble. Yet just a few verses earlier, Jesus makes it clear just how powerful he really is: All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (v.27).

Make no mistake, our Lord and Savior is exalted above all in his rightful position at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33) with the name above all names (Philippians 2:9). No one has more right to describe himself as mighty, powerful and supreme than Jesus. Yet he chose to describe himself as gentle and lowly; giving all glory and honor to God the Father. That is the example we need to admire and follow.