Devotional Eight: Gentleness

“A soft answer turns away wrath,     but a harsh word stirs up anger.”  -Proverbs 15:1 

“I grew older which was sensible of me; and became rich, friendless and mean, which in Yonkers is about as far as you can go!”  -Horace Vandergelder, Hello, Dolly! 

In this age of intense political polarization, vitriol is more common than gentleness. There is a sense that being part of this tribe or that tribe means that every member must hold in contempt any member of the opposing side. The art of debate and conversation has devolved into plain meanness at times. 

Hello, Dolly! presents the results of embracing meanness over gentleness. At the beginning of the musical, a mean and scathing Horace Vandergelder has no patience with those around him, including his own niece. As the musical progresses, Horace isolates himself more and more from those around him, including his employees Cornelius and Barnaby, whom he fires. He rejects Irene Molloy and Ernestina Money and even fires Dolly from being his marriage broker. Eventually, Horace finds himself completely alone in his own meanness. Much like Henry Higgins from last year’s My Fair Lady, our central male character is left alone and heartbroken because of his own choices. Contrary to this meanness, Dolly returns to teach Horace a lesson about his own meanness, and he enthusiastically admits his wrongdoing and declares his newfound love for Dolly. 

Our sinful choices can turn us into mean people like Horace Vandergelder. Although an extreme example, this illustrates how sin hardens our hearts toward others and even ourselves. In John 8:34, Jesus speaks to the effect of sin to enslave us: “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” Just like Horace, sin isolates us from others and God, and often, we don’t even realize this process is happening. Praise the Lord we have a Savior in Jesus who takes on our sin and frees us from the slavery of sin. Jesus frees us from sin to sanctify us and lead us to become more like Himself. The Lord has prepared good works for us to do when we surrender our lives to Him: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Embrace God’s gentle heart for you and accept His loving forgiveness.