And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 2 Peter 1:5-7
“A mild man, observing the folly and the error and the unrighteousness of men, yearns for God and prays to Him with inward trust, that He may cause His divine gifts to flow, and may nurture His mildness in all men, till they acknowledge Him and turn themselves to the truth. This mild man also observes with compassion the bodily needs of all men: he serves them, he gives to them, he lends, he comforts each man according to his needs, according to his own ability and to discretion…
By means of knowledge a man shall purge his conscience of all faults, and adorn it with all virtues: and with moderation a man shall give and take, shall do and let alone, be silent and speak, fast and eat, hear and answer, and act in all things according to knowledge and discretion, clad in a moral virtue which is called temperance or moderation.”
Jan van Ruysbroek (1293-1381) in The Spiritual Espousals (London: Faber and Faber, 1952) 70, 76.
As we journey through Lent with fasting and feasting, we realize that it’s a journey of observing our error and unrighteousness and adorning ourselves with virtues for a purpose. God forms us into “mild” people who meet the needs of others.
Notice that prayer is a place of inward trust that births temperance and moderation in us. This propels a “mild” person to outward service that is measured according to needs and according to one’s ability. Do you give accordingly? Let me explain.
To give according to needs is to discern them. To give according to your means is to put to work what you have. You serve, give, lend, and comfort holding nothing back. The capacity to do this flows from temperance and moderation.
This is the aim of Palmful of Maize project in Malawi: to teach a generation of children in every Sunday School class in the country that God blesses us with divine gifts to enjoy and share according to our ability with those around us.