The Giant Elephant: Gentleness

Perhaps you have only seen this great animal in pictures, but with a long, bendable nose and flapping ears you know who she is. An elephant, of course! These animals live in herds on the African plains and in the jungles of Asia. In the wild our friend lives in a big family, called a herd, that works and plays together. The elephant is the biggest animal on land—taller than your ceiling and too big to squeeze through the door. But the wonderful thing about her is that she is gentle.

When you think of bears and lions and rhinoceroses, you think of fierce animals that will hurt you. But even though the elephant is bigger and stronger than them all, she lives peaceably with other animals. Even if the elephant is angry, she will only try to scare away the troublesome enemy, not hurt it. Isn’t this a good example to us? If you are bigger and stronger than the other children around, choose to be gentle like the elephant. Don’t push your own way, but work to help and show you care. Gentleness makes your strength beautiful and good.

One of the strongest things the elephant has is her giant trunk. This nose is quite amazing, for it can pick up a tiny peanut, squirt water, or pull up a tree. Since the elephant can use it in so many ways, you might think she would be selfish with it. But, no, God made her to be a very caring animal. If a baby elephant is hurt, she will help it up. When a sick friend can not move, she will bring it food. Just like our arms, she uses her trunk to do good and show love, even perhaps to give a “cheer-up” hug to one that is down.

How about us? Will we show gentleness and think of others first? Show that you care in little helping ways. Give a little pat to encourage your brother or a quiet kind word when your friend starts to argue. Remember, gentleness is giant strength. In the Bible it talks about God’s gentleness making us great. Jesus was gentle. He showed us His greatness by loving us and helping us, even when we were His enemies and had disobeyed. Don’t you think being gentle is greater than being hard and mean?