Scripture describes how God responds to those who have been wounded.
"A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth." (Isaiah 42:3 NKJV)
A gentle approach is particularly important for those who have been deeply wounded. Those who have already been bruised and crushed have difficulty growing and standing up tall and straight. Breaking them will not help them do this, but rather hinders and further destroys their growth and healing. Strengthening and providing support while they heal and grow is a better approach. Those who are already “smoldering” and burning out, who are having trouble living or coming truly alive, do not need to be shut down further or “quenched”, but rather nurtured, so that they can begin to experience what it means to have abundant life, so that their life and joy in life can be restored, “fanned into flame”. Also, those who have been wronged, whose lives have been messed up, turned upside down, need to experience God righting the wrongs, making things right in their lives.
In His gentle care, God does not break those who are already bruised and crushed. He strengthens and supports them so that they can heal and grow. God does not quench or snuff out the life of those already struggling to live, who are burning out. Instead, He nurtures them with His gentle care, so that they can begin to experience what it means to have abundant life, so that joy in their life can be “fanned into flame”. For those whose lives are in a mess, God works to right the wrongs and make things right in their lives, as He aligns them with His truth.
As we minister to others, we need to seek to participate in this process of healing, restoration and transformation in the lives of those who have been wounded, interacting with them in line with God's gentle care.
And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26 NKJV)
We are not to enter into an ego based power struggle to try to force others to comply with how we think things should be for them. Rather, we are to respond with gentle, patient humility, as we teach the truth and correct them, and let God work in them to bring them into freedom.
How do we do this?
As we live and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to lead and transform us to be more like Christ, the fruit of the Spirit will be increasingly evident in our lives.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV)
As a result, we will be able to respond to others more and more in accordance with the agape love of God, as we share the truth.
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a NKJV)
This means that we will be patient and kind, not envious, boastful, arrogant, rude, egotistical, easily angered, or resentful. We will not rejoice in wrongdoing, but we will rejoice in the truth, as we bear with others, standing with them, remaining confident in the hope of all the good things that God wants to do in their lives. This is a gentle approach, yet also very strong. We will speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), cooperating with the Holy Spirit as He works in and with those we are ministering to, as He guides us and them into all truth (John 16:13). And people will be set free.
