Gentleness: The fruit of the Spirit (XII)

“Gentle Jesus meek and mild, wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Well gentle, yes and depending on your understanding of the word meek, that too, but mild? A man who made a whip of chords and overturned the tables of the money changers and drove them out of the Temple (John 2:15) is not mild. But is He meek? Some translation of 2 Corinthians 10:1 seem to imply so. But the NIV has 'humility' rather than meekness,' reading “pleading with you by the humility and gentleness of Christ.” And humility rather than some understandings of the English word meekness seems closer to the mark on what we read about Jesus in the Gospels. In our macho world gentleness is often seen as weakness, but with the Biblical understanding of the concept the opposite is the case. Gentleness in the Biblical sense can be defined as strength under control, and can be illustrated by the control a strong man needs to exercise, when he shakes the hand of a little child.

Two proverbs help to draw out the Biblical meaning. Firstly “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (Proverbs 15:1). A word can be harsh in tone or in content. It does not take much to either continue or even escalate situations in which we encounter anger. The second proverb reads “Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone” (Proverbs 25:15). The Tyndale commentary helpfully gives “The point is that so unassuming a weapon may win surprising victories.” I remember one time having a lot of trouble with tires that refused to stay inflated with the result they had worn out far too soon. I went to see the manager of the store and he came to meet me clearly wary of people loudly demanding their rights. But I approached him calmly and gently asking if there was something he could do for me. He could, and I had the distinct impression it would have not gone well if I had angrily demanded my rights.

So gentleness is far from weakness, and as with all aspects of the fruit of the Spirt, it is primarily caught as we spend time with our awesome gentle God. The Psalmist could declare “Your gentleness has made me great” (Psalm 18:35). How differently is this from the ways of the World! Gentleness is a spirit, and is commanded especially when we need to come alongside one who is overtaken in a fault (Galatians 6:1). And this admonition is applicable to ourselves too when we have blown it. How many of us beat ourselves up when we have failed? The Lord does not deal with us this way so neither should we.

Father, gentleness is one more aspect of the fruit of the Spirit where I need practice, since I tend to be reactive in that my default response to anger has been to be to raise my voice. But You know my frame Lord and I want to thank You again this morning that there is no condemnation for any of Your followers (Romans 8:1). You do not call us out Lord, but rather You call us up to our high calling in Christ Jesus. And Lord as we continue in Your grace and mercy, Your gentleness is sure to make us great. We want to be like You Lord, so draw us and keep us close in Jesus Name Amen