As the school year ends, one of the things I enjoy is attending the Awards Assemblies. I love hearing the variety of attributes our students have displayed and how our staff identify these attributes and honour students.
As I sat in one of the assemblies, I had a flashback to when I was in Secondary School and I was awarded ‘The Most Magnanimous Student’. I must admit, when I heard my name called out, I was a little confused, mainly because I didn’t know what being magnanimous meant! I have now come to understand it means having a generous or noble spirit – showing forgiveness, kindness and generosity to others – and was being paid a wonderful compliment!
A few days after this flashback, I was reading the New Testament Book of Philippians, Chapter 4, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul wants the people from the Church in Philippi to be recognised for their gentleness. He wrote, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.”
Bible scholars have struggled to accurately translate this verse, and especially the word gentleness. Biblical scholar Howard Marshall suggests, “The word gentleness suggests magnanimity, the ability to remain reasonable and unperturbed when confronted by difficult people and to treat them calmly and fairly.”
Another biblical scholar, Frank Theilman, quotes how the Jewish Book of Wisdom understands this word. He writes, “The evil people who do not believe in the afterlife want to go out with a bang but often experience opposition from righteous people who reject their irresponsible merriment.” The Jewish Book of Wisdom goes on to say, “The evil people then decide to persecute the righteous man to find out how ‘gentle’ he is and to make trial of his forbearance.” This enables Theilman to conclude: the term gentleness was often used of an attitude of kindness where the normal response was retaliation.
The American Biblical scholar, Dr Handley Moule, offers this insight to the translation of verse 5: “Let your yieldingness be known to all people.”
Given that the context of verse 5 is that the Apostle Paul has been talking about the problem between two people in the church at Philippi, it is probable that this was the thought in the Apostle’s mind as he penned these words.
Be it magnanimity, forbearance, kindness or yieldingness, Jesus manifested each of these qualities in the highest degree as He refused to revile His detractors and persecutors.
What a wonderful change Jesus can bring into our lives when we choose to follow Him. Whether we’re tempted to lash out at those who are opposing us or explode in exasperation with irritating people, the grace that Jesus can give us can enable us to demonstrate these kind, gentle, magnanimous responses.
As we focus on Jesus’ birth at this time of year, let us recall that the babe grew to become a man who walked this earth, enabling us to see God’s gentleness in action.
As we celebrate this Christmas season together, my prayer for you and your family is that the kindness and gentleness of Jesus will be most evident.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I look forward to returning in 2026 when the new school year commences.