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b'When God created the world, He saw that it was good (Genesis 1:31). But\\nwhen the first humans went their own way against God, sin and brokenness\\nmessed up that goodness. While we are still made in God\\u2019s image, and we\\nlike to try to create good things too, we will never reach perfection in\\nour broken world. We make mistakes. We mess up. For example, I love to\\nwrite, and a big part of that process is rewriting. I could rewrite a\\nthousand times and never be completely content with my work. It\\u2019s easy to\\nget frustrated with myself. Why can\\u2019t I get it right? Why can\\u2019t it be\\nperfect? But when Jesus came, He taught us a new way\\u2014not one of\\nperfectionism, but of gentleness. He came to His people, as the prophet\\nZechariah foretold, gentle and riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9). Jesus\\ntaught His followers to come to Him for rest, because He is \\u201cgentle and\\nhumble in heart\\u201d (Matthew 11:28-30). As children of God, we are called to\\nclothe ourselves with gentleness\\u2014to let our gentleness be obvious to those\\naround us. We can\\u2019t do this in our own strength, but the Holy Spirit helps\\nus (Galatians 5:22-23). Often, learning to be gentle with others starts\\nwith learning to be gentle with ourselves. Have you ever tried\\u2014and\\nfailed\\u2014to do something perfectly? Have you ever gotten frustrated with\\nyourself? Have you ever struggled to forgive yourself after making a\\nmistake? You\\u2019re not alone. I\\u2019ve been there. It\\u2019s easy to hold grudges\\nagainst ourselves. But Jesus promises redemption. He has shown us the\\nultimate gentleness and forgiveness. We can be gentle with ourselves\\nbecause He is gentle with us. We can forgive ourselves because He has\\nforgiven us. He took our sin upon Himself when He was nailed to the cross,\\nand He defeated sin and death when He rose from the dead. One day, our\\ngentle Savior promises to bring forth a new heaven and a new earth. There\\nwill be no more sin, no more brokenness. But for now, let\\u2019s make the most\\nof our broken world. Instead of striving for perfection, we can rest in\\nJesus\\u2019s forgiveness and live in the way of gentleness and grace. After all,\\nthat\\u2019s how we will show people glimpses of Jesus Christ. \\u2022 Becca Wierwille\\n\\u2022 Do you sometimes feel like you need to be perfect or do something exactly\\nright? \\u2022 How might knowing that God is gentle with us help us to be gentle\\nwith ourselves and others? Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord\\nis near. Philippians 4:5 (NIV)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\nMatt.21.1-Matt.21.11|Col.3.12-Col.3.15|Phil.4.5'