But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness….. Galatian 5:22-23
“Gentleness-kindness, consideration, a spirit of fairness and compassion. The apostle Paul declared that Christians should have a spirit of gentleness toward all people.” (Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
“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.” (Got Questions)
We live in a world that can be very critical of others. We often forget that we are flawed individuals, too, and that people have feelings. Sometimes, we can be so spiritual that we ignore how our attitudes or speech come across. Or when someone is harsh or critical of you, how do you react? Do you fight back with angry words? Do you control your tongue and temper?
“Gentleness means being very aware that the other person is a human being with feelings, too. And maybe that person, even the one who is being very nasty, is just as hurt as I am by whatever is going on between us ….A gentle response can also be strong, firm, and clear, but without vicious rage.” (Wright)
This is very difficult to do. We can only demonstrate gentleness to the people around us through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is a great example of how to be gentle with the people around us. Think about the Samaritan woman in the Book of John or the Syro-Phoenician woman in Mark 7. In both of these accounts, Chris was gentle and loving to these women. Think about Peter when Jesus had a conversation with him after Peter had denied Jesus three times after Peter strongly and adamantly said that he would never deny Christ.
As believers, we are to take our cues from Christ. How can we gently respond to criticism or gently give criticism? In the end, every person Christ talked to in our examples felt more loved by Him because of His care and concern for them. Do people feel that way after talking with you?
I pray so. Let us strive to be more like Christ.
Reference
Christopher J. H. Wright, Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit: Growing in Christlikeness (2017).
GotQuestions: The Fruit of the Holy Spirit – What is gentleness? https://www.gotquestions.org/fruit-Holy-Spirit-gentleness.html
Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary Editor Ronald F. Youngblood (2014)
