Gentleness Doesn’t Set Itself Up As Judge

Yesterday, we talked about Moses and his gentleness in response to the Israelites. There’s another great lesson in the life of Moses when it comes to gentleness that we can learn from, and that is why it is so important never to set ourselves in the place of judge over another.

Moses’ brother and sister did that, and it DID NOT turn out well. Maybe you remember this. Aaron and Miriam started questioning Moses’ judgment, criticizing almost everything about him and even opposed him—all because they didn’t think he married the right woman. 

In most families, that would cause a whole lot of strife. But because Moses was so good at living out the fruit of gentleness, he had another option. He didn’t have to fight back or argue with his brother and sister. He could respond with gentleness and look to God to handle things. So, that’s what he did. When they challenged his position before God, he just stayed quiet. 

What happened as a result?

God came into the mix and took care of business. He rebuked Aaron and Miriam and put them in their place (Numbers 12:4-10). You will see that Miriam’s judgment against Moses resulted in her own judgment.

It just doesn’t pay to set yourself up as judge and come against a servant of God! You don’t want to go around criticizing a man or woman who belongs to Him. It doesn’t matter if that person is one of your family members or not. If you don’t like something he or she is doing, pray for that person. But don’t set yourself up as judge.