Gently

 Devotion for the week…

About two or three times a week I bake with the childcare littles. Our specialties are muffins, banana cake, and brownies. Mostly I choose things we have to stir, rather than things that require a mixer, because they love getting to stir. The little one I bake with these days always comments on the batter getting gooey as we stir in the wet ingredients. Of course, they have all loved getting to eat a few chocolate chips when we’re finished!

Baking with them is what came to mind recently when I read Matthew 16:18: "Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." That struck me because it’s Jesus who is building the church. It’s His project. We get confused and think it’s our project, but really we’re more like the toddlers helping to stir. He could do the work entirely by Himself, and it would be easier and more efficient if He did, but for some reason He chooses to let us help. 

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:20 that "we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, 'Come back to God!'" Calling other people to come back to God is our primary task in this church-building project.

When we're baking, sometimes the littles stir a bit too enthusiastically (aka hard and/or fast), and I have to remind them to "stir gently, so it all stays in the bowl." Nathan, who has heard me say that to them quite often, made a mess with something recently, laughed, and said, "I guess I should have stirred gently so it all stayed in the bowl!" I wonder how often God looks at us, interacting with the people around us, and wants to say, "Speak gently, so you don’t make a mess with your words!" How often are we a little too rough, and our words do more harm than good? Or how often does He wish we would just slow down before we speak? 

As His ambassadors, our words (both the actual words and how we say them) impact how people view God. If that's not enough to make us slow down and speak gently, I don't know what is!