Learn from Jesus’ Example
By Rick Warren
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29 (NIV)
Nobody lived a more balanced and healthy life than Jesus. He wasn’t consumed with stress. He was never burdened with a heavy load. His life was a model for us on how to live with purpose and peace.
In Matthew 11:29 Jesus says, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (NIV). It’s as if he’s saying, “Study me. Watch how I do it.”
We’ve already seen that his answers to stress and anxiety include coming to him and taking on his yoke by giving up control. Now, he invites us to learn from him—this is the third solution to reducing stress.
Jesus doesn’t say, “Learn from me. I’ll teach you endurance and stamina, confidence and courage, or time management and goal setting.” He says, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble.” He wants us to watch him and replicate what he did.
But learning from Jesus, following his example of gentleness and humility, doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that takes time. You must learn to reduce stress.
Two of the biggest causes of stress in your life are arrogance and aggression. These are the opposites of humility and gentleness.
Aggression happens when you do things too quickly. You don’t wait or think things over. You just jump right in with both feet and you get over-committed.
Arrogance happens when you try to control everything. Arrogance is thinking you know what’s best and everyone’s lives would be easier if they followed your plan.
The truth is when you try to do it all, have it all, be it all, and experience it all, you’re living with an aggressive and arrogant attitude. You’re acting like superman or superwoman. The antidote to aggression and arrogance is gentleness and humility—the kind of life Jesus modeled for us to live.
So how do you learn to be gentle and humble like Jesus? You do it by growing your faith. And when your faith grows, your stress goes down.
How do you grow your faith? Faith grows by spending time in the Bible. The more you get God’s Word into your life, the more your faith will grow. The Bible says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17 NKJV).
You need to hear the Word, read the Word, and think about the Word of God on a daily basis. If you do, your faith will increase, your stress will decrease, and your life will begin to look a lot more like Jesus’.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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