In Courageous Gentleness: Following Christ’s Example of
Restrained Strength, Mary Ann Froehlich really challenges me. While I am happy to be gentle and patient
with babies, I must confess that I often want to just smack some adults upside
the head when I witness the decadence and ignorance that permeates American
society. I have a long road ahead if I’m
to develop the gentle manner Jesus used.
It helps to be reminded by Mary Ann that, “We have an all-powerful yet
gentle God who could have destroyed us but instead chose to love us.”
But isn’t some anger justified? Mary Ann point to only two situations in
which Jesus was angry: with Satan and his demons or with hypocrites. Her
emphasis in this book is that “Jesus was never angry or harsh with lost, broken
people.” The key for me to conquer my own harshness will be to constantly
remind myself that most of the people I encounter each day fall into the “lost,
broken people” category.
This book includes plenty of Scripture to back up Mary Ann’s
insights as well as quotes from well-known Christians past and present. There are also discussion questions, making
this book suitable for a group Bible study.
I received a free review copy of Courageous Gentleness through NetGalley.
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