Fruit of the Spirit: Gentleness

Fruit of the Spirit: Gentleness

When Paul lists the 9 fruits of the Spirit that every Christian should be exhibiting in their daily walk, we expect to find things like love, joy and kindness. But, towards the end of the list, he mentions gentleness.

Now, gentleness is a fine quality, but it seems a bit out of place when describing a church whose leader, Peter, took a sword and lopped off a soldiers' ear when they came to arrest Jesus. That's not gentle.

So, what does Paul mean when he charges us to be gentle? A clue comes to us when we look at the 23rd Psalm. This Psalm, written by King David, is the most well-known chapter of the Bible. It is widely regarded as the most beautiful portion of literature that has ever been written.

The very first line of that beautiful song is, "The Lord is my Shepherd."

That was a very interesting way to look at God. Remember that it was written in the ancient world, around 3000 years ago. It was written at a time when nations regularly went to war with each other and they made images of their gods to carry with them. These idols represented things like bulls, dragons, snakes, eagles and other great and horrible beasts.

And yet, here is David - known as a great a warrior about whom the women sang, "David has killed his ten thousands" - painting a picture of God as a meek and Gentle Shepherd. No one thought of God in those terms. Yet, this is how God revealed Himself to David.

God is telling us something about Himself, here. He is saying that in a world of violence and impassioned hatred, there is a gentleness that the world can know.

He is talking about you and me and the image of Christ that is in us. He is telling us to follow the path that Jesus prepared. Our example of gentleness is a light to a world that knows nothing about real peace and love. Our God is a God of gentleness ... a God worth following.

Matthew 2:6

"For out of you shall come forth a ruler Who will shepherd MY people Israel."