“You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me; And Your gentleness makes me great.”
Psalm 18:35
I’m writing this from Puerto Rico where the waves are pulling into the sandy seashore. The sun is peaks behind fluffy white clouds and I’m in awe of peaceful some parts of the world still are.
It’s amazing how many times the Bible alludes to the power, restlessness and rage of the sea. It seems like for every storm there are so much many days of peace. I wonder why we remember the storm more than we remember the still peaceful waters? Storms are destructive and disastrous. Maybe this is why we cling to their memory. We mourn what they destroy. We mourn what they cause us to fear.
The next fruit we’re investigating is “gentleness”.
So many of the fruits of the Spirit are characterized by Jesus and Jesus, we know, is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Everything that the Spirit is, Jesus is and God as well. So imagine heaven, imagine Jesus sitting next to God and the Holy Spirit and each of them is filled with peace, truth and gentleness.
We’ve discussed peace and I believe we can think of gentleness as the cousin of peace. When Jesus calmed the raging storm while the disciples stood fearful, He created an environment of peace. Do you have any storms in your life that need the gentle rebuke of Jesus?
Ephesians 4: 1-3 reads, “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
We are called into a life of gentleness. It is a reflection of how God called us to Him. Through grace, we received the gentle love of God through Christ when we were so undeserving of it. Our daily mission is to plant the fruit of gentleness into the lives of everyone we meet and interact with so they can see Jesus through us. Gentleness is a natural diffusor. When we diffuse a situation before it escalates, we show people how our Savior gently does the same in our hearts and in our lives.
But how, someone may say? How can I practically exhibit gentleness.
Here are a few ideas:
- Be gentle in correcting a staff member who continues to make mistakes
- Provide a gentle response when a child is disobedient
- Take 10 seconds to pause before you respond verbally or digitally to something that has bothered you
- Ask yourself: will my response be pleasing to Jesus
- Pray for a spirit of peace and gentleness before you respond to someone
These are small tactics that have great reward. I find myself growing now that I take a few seconds before I respond to a situation or a person that has provoked me in a negative way. I also believe, not everything requires my response. When Jesus rebuked the sea during the storm, He did so to create an environment of peace. When I put creating an environment of peace ahead of my desire to be right, everyone is blessed.
Let’s be women who create peace through our gentle rebukes and not through our rage.
This is how we walk worthy of our calling. This is how we please God and keep away from the snares of the devil.