As Christians, we're supposed to be filled with the Spirit of God. But what, exactly, does that look like? Well, for one thing, it looks like gentleness.
What in the Word: Galatians 5:22-25
Hang-Onto-It Verse: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23a)
Welcome to the penultimate post in our Fruit of the Spirit series! As we finish out this series on the qualities of the fruit of the Spirit, I've been sharing the wisdom and inspiration of other writers. Now I'm honored and delighted to introduce you to Karen Del Tatto of Growing Together in Grace and Knowledge. I "found" Karen via the blog hop circuit, and it was one of the happiest things to happen to me last year. I know Karen's gift with words and the wisdom behind them will be sweet for your soul today.
BLESSED
ARE THE MEEK, FOR THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH
Matthew
5:5
I've always admired people
who are gentle in their speech, manner and actions. Sweet, soft voices
that seem to woo hearers into a peaceful state...attitudes which see
good in every person and situation...calmness when circumstances warrant
otherwise...
I've been blessed with two
people like that in my life: my grandma and a dear sister-in-Christ, Raquel.
My grandmother left such a
beautiful legacy. I never once heard her saying anything bad about
anyone. She never complained. In fact, when you asked her how she
was doing, she would always say, "Oh, I can't complain." Grandma was always happy. I can still hear her sweet voice in my
"mind's-ear" saying, "Hi Dear" as I walked in the door. A sweet, gentle spirit...
My friend Raquel taught me
much about being a gentle
parent. Her children were already well-behaved, but if a situation
arose where she needed to intervene, Raquel never raised her sweet sounding
voice, but would stay calm as she spoke, her gentleness diffusing the
situation, bringing calmness to her children.
I wish I could say both of
these gentle spirits shaped me into a gentle phenom,
but sadly this is not the case. I don't have a sweet, gentle voice. In fact, it seems physically impossible for me to lower my voice to a
whisper. (LOL!) I can be assertive in certain situations, and I tend
to complain and be critical. Nothing gentle about any of these things.
I don't know if it seems like it to you, but to me anyway, I feel like
people who are gentle are just born with naturally sweet voices and
dispositions.
But, by the power of the
Holy Spirit, we are all called and capable of being gentle. For we are
born of the Spirit, and He has planted the fruit of gentleness
deep within us.
The Merriam Webster
dictionary defines gentle as:
- having or
showing a kind and quiet nature : not harsh or violent
- not hard or forceful
- not strong or harsh in
effect or quality
Similarly, a synonym of
gentle, meek is defined as: quiet, gentle, and easily
imposed on; submissive.
Having a few months lead
time to prepare this post, I prayed and pondered about what I might share on
the fruit of gentleness. The Lord responded by
graciously providing many insights over these weeks and months. But there
was one overarching theme that became very evident to me: we have the Perfect
example of gentleness to emulate--the Lamb of God.
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)
Through this verse, the
Lord showed me that gentleness is an antidote for fear.
A majority of the time,
when we find ourselves being harsh and controlling, (the opposite of gentle and
humble), we are acting out from fear. In our striving, we are trying to
force our wills on the situation, rather than having an attitude of gentleness
and humility, which trusts God for the outcome of the situation, bringing rest
to our souls.
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Now Jesus loved Martha
and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus[a] was ill, he
stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to
the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi,
the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the
day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if
anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen
asleep, but I go to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has
fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they
thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly,
“Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that
you may believe. But let us go to him.” (John 11:1-15)
Through this, the Lord showed me that our gentleness brings glory to God.
When I'm in a state of
rushing, I tend to bang around, loudly complaining that I am late. If I
catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I look very harsh. It isn't pretty and
there is nothing gentle about my demeanor...a very poor testimony.
It seems that inevitably,
when we rush, we actually create obstacles that delay us even more, like
spilled coffee from moving too quickly and not paying attention, or finally
leaving, driving up the road a few minutes, and then realizing we need to go
back to get something we've forgotten.
Rushing also exhibits
itself through an attitude of impatience. When we are impatiently waiting
for something to happen, such as waiting for an answer to prayer, a change in a
loved one's detrimental behavior, results of medical tests, word about a job, approval
of a mortgage, and the list goes on and on, we tend to fret and feel anxious. My impatience manifests itself through increased activity in an attempt
to distract myself. I may become angry that something is not happening
fast enough. Instead of calmness and gentleness, I display tenseness and
irritability, many times lashing out at others.
Jesus never rushed
anywhere. He was always calm and gentle in His actions, even when those
around him were hoping He would rush to help, as in the example of Lazarus,
where Jesus chose to wait so that God would be glorified, and the disciples
would believe.
God's Kingdom clock ticks
differently then our own. He ordains our steps each day. When we
view all of life's circumstances through the eyes of God's purposes, even those
that seem annoying to us or that we have been waiting on God for, we must trust
God's lessons and His perfect timing.
Be
still {calm, gentle} before the Lord and wait patiently for him... (Psalm
37:7)
With
all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love...(Ephesians
4:2)
Going through the day to
day activities of life in a gentle manner, taking our time and being purposeful
in all that we do, trusting God for the outcome, will not only do wonders for
our well-being, but most importantly will bring Glory to God by our witness to
others.
For
to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you
an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin,
neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not
revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued
entrusting himself to him who judges justly. (1
Peter 2:21-23)
He
will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not
extinguish. (Isaiah
42:2-3)
Through these verses the
Lord showed me that a gentle spirit gives grace at all times.
Unfortunately, I'm sure we've all experienced those people that
like to "push our buttons" to the point that we respond harshly. We tell ourselves that we aren't going to let this person get to us, but
then it happens, we explode...
There are also the little
irritations in life that seem to "push our buttons." We show
frustration to our husband who hasn't done something we've asked him to do; or
speak angrily to a child who is throwing a tantrum.
O, that when our
"buttons are pushed" we would pour out gentle grace instead of
frustration and anger.
Jesus was the epitome of
gentleness, even at the hands of His tormentors, never responding harshly,
always extending grace. The culmination of this great grace flowed down
from the cross: Jesus' blood, washing away the sins of the world, extending
God's love and mercy to all who would believe.
After seeing the examples
of Jesus' gentle ways, you might be thinking the same thing I am...
How can I possibly attain
to the level of gentleness that Jesus exhibited? He was the perfect,
spotless Lamb of God who knew no sin. I am a sinner with a bent to sin
and self!
By abiding in Jesus.
Jesus is the vine, and we
are the branches. The only way a branch is able to produce fruit is by
staying connected to the vine, the lifeblood, that courses through, nourishing
the branch.
How do we abide?
Through prayer and time in
the Word, growing us spiritually.
But
the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable,
full
of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. (James
3:17)
Through being part of a
church body, and having fellowship with other believers, encouraging practical
application.
I can definitely say that
all of the positive spiritual changes in my own life, on a practical level, can
be directly traced back to the encouragement and example of fellow believers
who I had consistently spent time with or from teachers whose lessons I sat
under often.
If the fruit of gentleness
is something that you could produce a bigger bushel of {like myself}, find a gentle friend
and learn from her and her ways; then be intentional to exercise the muscle of gentleness,
and it will grow and become defined and evident, testifying to those around
you, bringing glory to God.
May God strengthen us to...
...
pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.(1
Timothy 6:11)
...let
{our} gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. (Philippians
4:5)
"When your words came, I ate them;
they were my joy and my heart's delight." (Jeremiah 15:16)
(Looking for Part 7 of this series? Find it here.)
