'Jesus, Why Are You Being So Harsh?': Luke 9:57-62 (Gentleness)

Read Galatians 5:22-23:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Are you ready to make an investment in the Fruit of Gentleness?

Read Luke 9:57-62:

"As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”

Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Select 'Successful' when you are finished.

In the above Bible verses, how 'gentle' was Jesus' response to the people He encountered?

Go to 'DOCUMENTS' and read Oswald Chambers comments on Luke 9:57-62.

Select 'Successful' when you are finished.

Oswald States: "The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to be hurt or offended. Jesus Christ had no tenderness whatsoever toward anything that was ultimately going to ruin a person in his service to God."

What is God doing through your current circumstances that feels unreasonably difficult or harsh?

Write your answer in the space provided.

Oswald continues: "Our Lord’s answers were not based on some whim or impulsive thought, but on the knowledge of “what was in man.” If the Spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you can be sure that there is something in you that He wants to hurt to the point of its death."

Pray. Ask God to reveal to you what it is in you that He wants to 'hurt to the point of its death'.

If you like, you can write what you receive in the space provided.

In all honesty, how often you find yourself thinking that God's ways are too extreme? That He is asking too much of you?

Oswald states: "Luke 9:58. These words destroy the argument of serving Jesus Christ because it is a pleasant thing to do. And the strictness of the rejection that He demands of me allows for nothing to remain in my life but my Lord, myself, and a sense of desperate hope. He says that I must let everyone else come or go, and that I must be guided solely by my relationship to Him.

In all honesty, versus the influences of the world, how much is your life being guided solely by your relationship to Jesus?

Oswald continues: "Luke 9:59. This man did not want to disappoint Jesus, nor did he want to show a lack of respect for his father. We put our sense of loyalty to our relatives ahead of our loyalty to Jesus Christ, forcing Him to take last place. When your loyalties conflict, always obey Jesus Christ whatever the cost."

In your immediate circumstances, what 'cost' must you be willing to pay in order to follow Jesus?

Is there anything you would like to repent of?

If so, you can do so privately or in the space provided.

Oswald states: "Luke 9:61. The person who says, “Lord, I will follow You, but...,” is the person who is intensely ready to go, but never goes."

Like the people who encountered Jesus in Luke 9, imagine that He is before you right now. Talk to Him about why you have chosen to follow Him despite the cost.

If you like, you can write in the space provided.

Oswald concludes: "The exacting call of Jesus has no room for good-byes; good-byes, as we often use them, are pagan, not Christian, because they divert us from the call. Once the call of God comes to you, start going and never stop."

Given all that is at stake if you were to stop following Jesus, how much do you now view His 'harshness' as a gentle expression of His commitment to you as His follower?

How much has this Trail increased the fruit of gentleness in your current circumstances?