Gentleness
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ”
Hello Bride of Christ,
How would you feel if someone described you as meek? Would you think they thought you were soft-spoken, passive, weak, or inferior? In our day and age, meekness has drifted from its original and true meaning, often mistaken for weakness. Spinelessness. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is not passiveness. Meekness is gentleness. In fact, the virtue of gentleness contains great strength for it is the area of great restraint existing in the perfect balance between extreme anger and indifference.
Gentleness is a virtue of fine balance. The old testament gives us insight into how the God of the universe views gentleness, while the new testament gives us insight to where gentleness can be found. God utilizes the virtue of gentleness all throughout scripture to advance His good plans for His people, starting with Moses and ending with us.
God sees gentleness as humility, which He used to describe His servant Moses (Number 12:3). Moses, a man far from weak, led many captives free crossing the Red Sea with a great Egyptian army threatening their lives! Moses’ gentle nature balancing his own limitations against an all-powerful God led him to fully rely on God as his strength provided him the opportunity to be used by God in a most significant and historically miraculous way. Although gentleness led the children of Israel out of physical captivity it did not deliver them from the bondage of the law. However, our God continued working through gentleness for He sees it as the quality of royal heroes (Psalm 45:4), and who more royal than the King of Kings, Jesus!
It was gentleness by which Jesus identified Himself to His disciples and says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) Yes, in gentleness he came as a babe swaddled in linen. In gentleness as a young boy, he preached in a synagogue. In gentleness as a man of sorrows, He prayed in a garden. In gentleness, He endured the crucifixion. In gentleness, He was buried. In gentleness, He resurrected to see His disciples. In gentleness, He ascended to the Father leaving us with the Holy Spirit. Jesus: A fine life story of gentleness.
Bride of Christ, it is this same Jesus that proclaimed, “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) According to Jesus, gentleness was not a characteristic to insult, rather it was to empower. Jesus drew from gentleness the ability to endure the hard and do the impossible, and He is offering His Bride the same power. As a result, He gave us all we need to be gentle and meek: The Holy Spirit. In our relationship with the Holy Spirit, we are made gentle. We humbly get perspective and rest. The Holy Spirit‘s fruit of gentleness empowers us to endure and receive our inheritance, all the spiritual blessings of walking with Jesus! Allow the Holy Spirit to create in you a gentleness not of yourself but a gift from God, for against such there is no law!
