Tell the people of Zion, ‘Look, your king is coming to you, unassuming and seated on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ (Matthew 21:5)
Let everyone see your gentleness. The Lord is near! (Philippians 4:5)
The live green movement attempts to bring health to our planet. It’s an environmentally gentle approach to life that encourages a minimal ecological footprint. That’s a fancy way of saying we limit our use of natural resources. Advertisers apply the slogans of live green and sustainability to everything from light bulbs to automobiles.
There is a way to live green spiritually. The Bible enjoins us to adopt a gentle spirit, which is to say, a minimal worldly footprint. Our presence on earth should be a weightless benefit to everything we touch.
Do I have a gentle spirit with my family, my critics, my finances—what about with my driving? Am I quick to give and slow to take? I am called to leave a verdant path of encouragement, not a thorny trail of disapproval.
To live green doesn’t mean I become a spineless patsy. There was no gentler person than Jesus Christ, and yet no one has ever had his moxie. Gentleness simply means I sacrifice my temporal existence for the good of others—not for what they may want but for their eternal good.
A wisteria vine sends out a delicate tendril that can later bend steel pipes and break cement foundations. Just so, my life should be tender and fragrant, but driven by life bending conviction. That’s living green.
Prayer: Father, may my footprint be small on earth and large in your kingdom.