Dear Precious Friends
I pray you are walking into this beautiful day with purpose, joy and knowing the gift of a new day God has given us.
Today we are studying the fruit of the spirit gentleness.
I’m sharing from commentary and Bible.org on what gentleness truly is.
Galatians 5:22-23 says that the Holy Spirit works in us to be more like Christ (Ephesians 4:14-16), and part of the fruit, or results, of that work is gentleness. Gentleness, also translated “meekness,” does not mean weakness. Rather, it involves humility and thankfulness toward God, and polite, restrained behavior toward others. The opposites of gentleness are anger, a desire for revenge, and self-aggrandizement.
It takes a strong person to be truly gentle.
God wants us to give Him control of our lives. Relying on our own logic, we have no impetus to submit to God’s leadership. With the wisdom given to us by the Holy Spirit, however, we begin to see why we should completely submit to God as Lord of our lives. Human power under human control is a half-broken weapon in the hands of a child. But gentleness places our strength under God’s guidance; it is a powerful tool for God’s kingdom.
Every person is powerful. We can speak words that influence others; we can act in ways that help or hurt; and we can choose what influences will inform our words and actions. Gentleness constrains and channels that power.
To be gentle is to recognize that God’s ways and thoughts are high above our own (Isaiah 55:9).
Let me repeat
To be gentle is to recognize Gods ways and thoughts are high above our own.
We live in “ it’s all about me” world ....
So we need to be reminded of this truth!!!
We must humbly realize that our worldviews are shaped by exposure to sin and the misinterpretation of experience. That’s why knowing Gods word is a must! It’s absolute truth!
Then we can accept God’s worldview, reflecting truth about the spiritual and the material worlds.
It is to our advantage to have a gentle attitude toward God because He is omniscient and we are not. "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?" God challenges Job. "Tell Me, if you have understanding" (Job 38:4). God knows everything of the past, present, and future (1 John 3:20); we can’t even get the weather forecast right.
Have you noticed the more advanced we get in technology for weather the more the weather people get it wrong! God is God!
Like an angry teenager to parents, we may cry out, “You just don’t understand!” but God does understand, more than we could possibly know (Psalm 44:21).
When we are filled with the Spirit’s fruit of gentleness, we will correct others with easiness instead of arguing in resentment and anger, knowing that their salvation is far more important than our pride (2 Timothy 2:24-25).
We Speak The Truth in Love and show gentleness.
We will forgive readily, because any offense toward us is nothing compared to our offenses against God—offenses He’s already forgiven (Matthew 18:23-35).
Competition and self focus will disappear, as the goal becomes less about ourselves and more about preaching the gospel (Philippians 1:15-18). John the Baptist was a fiery preacher, yet he lives true gentleness when he said, “Jesus must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30).
Wow I love this reminder and example of how John shows gentleness and humility. We become less and He becomes more
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.Finally, to live in a spirit of gentleness toward God is to accept His judgment on people and issues. We tend to think it is gentle to go easy on people and try to justify actions that God has called sin. Or to let someone continue in sin without speaking the truth.
But Paul says, "If anyone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness" (Galatians 6:1). This doesn’t mean to be so soft that the sinner doesn’t realize he’s sinned. It means to confront the brother in a manner that is in line with Scripture—to be mild, loving, encouraging, and clear about the holiness that God calls us to.
Jesus gave us the perfect picture of gentleness: “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey” (Matthew 21:5), and now He offers us His gentleness as a gift. If we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us, we will be filled with fruit of gentleness.
Wow... I am in awe of Christ example of gentleness and through the Holy Spirits power we can also be filled with gentleness.
As we examine our hearts today on this fruit of the spirit I pray God speaks to each of us as he grows us in holiness.
Amen!
