Ok so we have come to gentleness, a Fruit of the Spirit that I have skipped over most of the time. I mean, isn’t gentleness just another way of saying kindness. The Webster’s dictionary people seem to confirm this, first defining phrase: “quality of being kind,” So why should Paul have added this Fruit if it is only a re-hash of an earlier one. Well it took some prayer, research and time in God’s Word, but I think I found something I had never thought of before.
I found this in an article on the gotquestions.org website. “The Fruit of the Holy Spirit- What is gentleness: “Galatians 5: 22-23 says that the Holy Spirit works in us to be more like Christ, and part of the fruit, or result 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 opposite of gentleness is anger, a desire for revenge, and self-aggrandizement.”
Something clicked in me when I read this. I thought that is what I could never wrap my head around when I was with someone who was truly a follower of Jesus, everyone of them had a gentleness that no one else had. I am sure I never used that word or thought of it even but that is it. Gentle. And do you know my response to them would always be anger or some vengeful ways to spite them. And it would aggravate me even more because the angrier I would get the gentler would be their response.
Listen to what it said further down in this article: “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 their salvation is far more important than our pride. We will forgive readily, because any offense toward us is nothing compared to our offenses against God- offenses He has already forgiven.” (gotquestions.org website. “The Fruit of the Holy Spirit- What is gentleness”) You see it? This is what I did not understand. A true Christ follower will be ready to forgive and keep a gentle heart because God has forgiven everyone of us offenses that should condemn us. But in His gentle love, He has already saved us. My unreasonable anger at Christians who exhibited this to me was because they had something I did not understand, all the fruit of the Holy Spirit which were being shown in their gentle but firm love for me.
Jesus says this in what we call the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) I have struggled with this verse too. It was not until I understood that the meekness or gentleness (Greek word: praeis) spoken of here is what Paul says of Jesus in Philippians 2 that I could grasp what would be required if I was to attain the kingdom of God, the earth reborn after Jesus second coming, “(Jesus), being in very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance of man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death- even to death on the cross.” (Philippians 2: 6-8) Jesus had the right to do what He wanted, but, for our sake, He submitted to ‘death on the cross.’ That is the ultimate in meekness, in gentleness. Not wimpy, as I might have once thought when I heard these words. But in holy boldness shown through humility. In Christ I have a whole new idea of gentle.
So how do we attain such a Fruit as this? Once again Jesus invites us to Him, “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) Yoking ourselves to Him. He will lead us. All He asks us to do is follow. Just like the apostle Peter at the end of the gospel of John, Jesus calls us also to follow. And I can tell you it is not easy. I have learned in the last week this kind of gentleness is not of this world. Especially when my peace was broken from within my own ‘family’ it took the power of the Holy Spirit and the message of writing this blog to remind me, others salvation is more important than my pride. Anger and vengeance were the tools of the ‘old’ John. Today I am fitted with the Fruit of the Spirit, Gentleness. May you be also.
Blessings John
6/25/18
