Becoming A Catalyst For ChangeSample

YOU CAN INFLUENCE THE WORLD Now that we are free to be who God wants us to be, we need to pay close attention to a particular fruit of the Spirit called MEEKNESS—which is basically yielded will (the supreme choice) towards God. Catch this: He never used a man until he first learned meekness—like Moses. God used Moses to birth a nation, very typical of a catalyst. But before he achieved this, God took him through years and years of training on Meekness—40 years! Matthew 5:5 says, “God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.” When we learn meekness, we change the world. Now, anger is the opposite of meekness, and the ultimate cause of anger or conflict is unyielded personal rights. Thus, God uses IRRITATIONS—with other people, situations, or even with self-- to invite us to re-evaluate our rights. When responded to correctly, they can actually become stepping stones to powering up with God. It all depends on one’s PERSPECTIVE. There will always be irritants, and whenever these irritants get on our nerves, there is a purpose to it-- to remind us of the inner qualities God wants to develop in us. For example, a traffic jam could mean that someone is in trouble—it gives you an opportunity to be sympathetic, or a restless child could mean a physical discomfort that needs attention—it gives you an opportunity to be compassionate. The key to meekness is responding to irritations the right way. Take note, responses, not just reactions. Responding requires character while reacting is largely based on the most predominant emotion. Check out this commentary on Moses in Numbers 12:3(NLT), “Now Moses was very humble—more humble than any other person on earth.” From being an angry man, Moses learned meekness, and he brought the Israelites from being slaves to becoming a nation. What about you, where can meekness take you?