Growth Weekly - Gentleness
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such things there is no law."
- Galatians 5:22-23
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” - 1 Peter 3:15-16
I feel as though Peter could have put any word in there. Peter, why not give our answer in love? Yes, but do it with gentleness. What about patience; surely we should respond with patience? Of course; but don’t forget to be gentle. Well what about kindness or even self-control? Both of those could work, but, no matter what, make sure you answer with gentleness. So, why gentleness?
Typing on a computer or phone has had two affects on the personal connections between people. First, no longer do you have the pressure of the person looking at you while you are talking to him or her. Second, no longer do you have to see the response the person makes to the things you say. All the sudden, gentleness makes a lot of sense. Technology has separated us and has allowed us to act and talk differently to each other. It has made it easier to separate ourselves from the consequences of our words. I’ve even noticed it in my own relationships – it’s SO much easier to say “I’m sorry,” in a text than it is to look in my wife’s eyes and say the same thing. If you need further convincing, go on Youtube and pick any video ever and read through the comments. I can almost guarantee that you will find mean and hateful comments said with malice just because people don’t have to face the consequences of their words.
Lucky for us, Peter is wiser than most of us. What I have discovered about gentleness is that it is our ability to withhold ourselves from exerting our full power. Or in other words, to keep ourselves from doing that which we are capable of doing. We all know the full power of the world and others – the world doesn’t pull its punches and people are relentless. So, when a person experiences gentleness, they are caught off guard. And right there is our open door – gentleness makes a way for us to share the good news and to prepare the way for Christ to show his gentleness as well.
In what ways can you work on being more gentle? Who is it in your life that you could catch off guard by responding to them gently? The answers with gentleness we give to others often relates to the grace we have experienced and the hope we now hold. How have you experienced the gentleness of Christ? There is no right answer; there is only the right way to share you answer with others: with gentleness.