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Gentleness vs Traditions

Bible story: Clean and unclean Matthew 15:1-20

Theme Verse: 1 Corinthians 10:32-33

This week’s battle is Gentleness against traditions. Gentleness can be a difficult fruit of the spirit to desire because, in many cultures, it is considered a weakness. It is usually understood as kindness, consideration, humility, and restrained behavior. But for many, restraint isn’t good! However, for God, restraint is good and something He requires of us. God thought it was important enough to list it as a fruit of the Spirit in the Scriptures, and Jesus showed gentleness when He was here on earth.

In churches all around the world, religious traditions become so important to us that we forget to restrain our behavior. We totally forget that God wants us to be gentle with others and kind. Our traditions become more important than people!

Today’s Bible story is an important one, as Jesus Christ is showing us to be careful with our traditions. One day, the leaders of the church came to Jesus and asked him why He allowed the disciples to break the tradition by eating with unwashed hands. But Jesus asked the leaders why they dishonored their own families for the sake of tradition. Jesus called them hypocrites!

You may not have this tradition in your country where it is a sin to eat with unwashed hands. But you do have traditions that are very important.

Pretend you do not know that the tradition was “eating with unwashed hands,” and insert one of the traditions of your country into Jesus’s sentence. What if Jesus was talking about one of your traditions? Would you be able to show restraint and love others who broke the tradition? Or would you be like the Pharisees, who put the tradition first at all costs?

Jesus then told the leaders that whatever goes into the body on the outside does not make them unclean, instead, what comes out of the mouth makes him unclean. This is because whatever comes out of our mouths comes from our hearts. God will always be more concerned with our hearts than our traditions. Can you observe your traditions without condemning those who do not? Can you be kind and gentle to those who break your traditions? Although it is very difficult, that is how to live like Jesus.

Questions:

What rules does your denomination have?

How can you show love to someone who is breaking one of your traditions?

What if being gentle to the rule-breakers makes you unpopular? Should you still show gentleness? Talk about the pain that is caused when we become unpopular, either at church or at school. How can we show gentleness to those who are unpopular?

Life Application:

Choose kindness to someone over one of your traditions. This could mean understanding when they break your tradition, and not making a comment about it. Make sure not to hurt anyone else, or bring attention to yourself with this assignment.