Read Mark 10:13-16 as a Family:

I (Pastor Annie) am about to have a little baby girl. She is due November 20, and we simply cannot WAIT for her to get here. When Baby Girl Neufeld arrives, we are going to celebrate her, hug her and kiss her, and be very, very gentle with her. Have you ever seen or held a newborn baby before? You have to handle them very delicately and very gently—you have to support their neck, help them to eat and sleep, protect them from getting too cold or too hot… We will have to be very gentle with this baby girl! But being gentle doesn’t mean that we aren’t strong. Sometimes we think that being “gentle” means that we ourselves have to be weak or fragile, that we can’t also be tough and strong. But that is the exact opposite of what gentleness is! Gentleness means using my strength to care for and to serve someone else. Being gentle with our baby is going to mean that my husband and I use our muscles and all our strength to make sure she is safe. 

In our story today, Jesus used his strength to care for the little children; he was gentle. You see, people in Jesus’ time didn’t treat little kids the same way we treat kids today. Nowadays, people love babies and children, and we celebrate them with care and love. But in Jesus’ day it was different—children weren’t seen as anything special. So for Jesus to welcome the little children, embrace them, and say that the Kingdom of God belongs to them… This was a BIG deal! He used his own power to lift up and care for people (kids) who didn’t have any power. 

And that is exactly what Jesus calls us to do. When we are connected to the Spirit, God gives us the Fruit of Gentleness. This means that we can use whatever strength or power or privilege that we have in order to serve others. 

Questions: 

• How was Jesus gentle in this passage? What is gentleness? 

• When is it difficult for you to be gentle? 

• What kinds of resources do you have around you? 

This could be things like time, money, extra toys, hugs, laughter, good food, a house… Make a list of the things you have that you might be able to use to bless others with. 

• How can you use what you have in order to bless someone else this week? Your siblings or parents? Your neighbors? Someone at school?