Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 4:4-7

To be reasonable means, according to the Oxford Dictionary, “having sound judgment; fair and sensible…as much as is appropriate or fair; moderate.” How do we gain sound judgement? Studying and applying the book of Proverbs is an excellent start. There we find that, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Surely wisdom, knowledge and understanding are necessary for sound judgment.

What is appropriate, fair and moderate are also concepts found throughout Scripture. Titus 2:7 says, “In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach.” Fairness is also upheld as a virtue in the Bible, Leviticus 19:15 says, “You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” In Philippians 4:5 “reasonableness” has also been translated as, “gentleness.” In a world beset with unreasonable and foolish talk and actions, may the people of God be known for being reasonable.

“God help us to be good witnesses of You. We want to live in such a way that people would be inspired to follow You. Show us how to do that, in Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.”

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

—James 3:17