"And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."
2 Timothy 2:24-26
I like the idea here of being gentle to all people. It is an important lesson for leaders, but no less so for everyone. I don't think it is an easy thing to do, because we often alienate people who are outside of our immediate circle... if we don't know them, then it is easier to treat them poorly, and the farther outside that circle, the more poorly. Or, in other words I think the more that we percieve that other people are different than we are, the more we alienate them and are okay with treating them as less than friends.
God has other ideas for us though. He asks us not only to be gentle with all men, as in these verses, but to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), to treat others as we prefer to be treated (Leviticus 19:18), to show compassion (Luke 10:33; 1 Peter 3:8), and to remember that everything we do, we do to the Lord (Matthew 25:40, 45).
Today, let's think hard about how we treat people that are outside our circles of friendship and acceptance, and let's work on being more gentle with them, and with everyone. Let's work on being "one" (D&C 38:27) remembering that God is the father of us all, and that we should be helping others and loving them rather than tearing them down or setting stumblingblocks in their way. With some people, for all of us, that will be difficult, but let's remember that God can change our hearts. If we ask him to help us see the good in others and learn to love them, we can, with his help, learn this tough lesson, little by little, until we are better and more compassionate people than we are now. :)
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