The word Judo means ‘The Gentle Way’. Originally practised by Japanese Samurai, in modern times it has been adapted and is mainly practised as a sport (although some use it as a form of self-defence).

The two Judoka (or players) wear special suits comprising a loose–fitting, belted jacket and lightweight trousers and compete on a large mat.
Each player grips his opponent's jacket and attempts to unbalance him and throw or trip him onto the mat. Depending on the force of the throw, a score is awarded by the referee to the attacking player and the winner is the player who, at the end of the contest, has achieved the highest scoring throw.
The contest can also be won by causing the opponent to 'tap' the mat in submission as a result of a stranglehold or arm-lock or by pinning the opponent's shoulders against the mat.

Contests are often far from 'Gentle' as each player struggles to gain an advantage - to use his own strength to put him in a superior position.

Sometimes, we live our lives just like that. We think that if we push and shove we will gain what we are looking for. We believe that in our own strength we have the power to win in each situation we face. But how wrong we are.

How many times do we find that for all our striving we end up on the seat of our pants? We have fought and toiled only to realise that in the end we just do not have the strength to win.

It's no shame to admit that all too often we are fighting a losing battle. And it is all the more tremendous to realise that we don't have to!

Because when we put our trust in Jesus we can rest upon the promises in God's Word which say:
The battle is the Lord's (1 Samuel 17:47) and greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

Judo may be the 'Gentle Way but trusting Jesus is 'The Better Way'