The Fruit Of The Spirit- Gentleness

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)

Gentleness is often confused with weakness. In fact, it is the opposite. Gentleness may be thought of as strength controlled for the sake of another person.

An illustration of gentleness is a father wrestling with a little child. There is no doubt that the father could injure the child if wrestling with serious strength. But he chooses to marshal that strength, to control it for the sake of the child's safety and to encourage the child to grow in his/ her own physical strength.

The Greek word, as does its English counterpart, carries its meaning into other areas also. Other words might be used include meekness, forgiveness and patience.

In relationships, when somebody disappoints us or hurts us we can choose to react harshly and condemn the person, perhaps even break off the relationship. Alternatively we may choose to forgive, to make allowances for them and to maintain the relationship.

We live in a time when people are very critical of one another and harsh towards public figures they disagree with. A social media post from 20 years ago might be resurrected for condemnation if it fails to live up to contemporary moral standards. Yet, the same people who condemn others are defensive when criticised themselves. In this culture, we need gentleness more than ever.

God has the right to treat us harshly for our sins. Yet, He gives us time to repent, forgives us endlessly and exhorts us to return to Him. There will be a time of judgement, and everybody who has not received God’s forgiveness in Christ will be judged and punished.

In the meantime, God treats us with gentleness.