Gentleness

One of my personal spiritual goals was to work on my gentleness. Of all the other Fruits of the Spirit, this one has been a struggle for me to understand and apply to my life. Like, what does it really mean to be gentle? Shoot, I ain't soft. But that's what God is asking of us. Gentleness, by definition, is the mildness of manners or displaying softness. But I never understood why being soft & gentle bothered me so much until I dug deeper and found some things that maybe you can relate to.

Gentleness equals mistreatment?

For some reason, I equated gentleness or softness with being an easy target. It could be based on the many movies I've seen growing up where the gentle kid got bullied the most. It could be the many examples I saw in grade school of this happening. It could even be how I saw women being mistreated when they were their most gentle selves. These examples were enough to say, "Yep, I am not going to be soft anymore." But that is not what God wanted for me. That is not what God wants for us. All of these examples were of gentleness not being handled properly, and they do not compare to the pros of being gentle.

Here are 4 Pros of being gentle:

It allows God to defend you.

"For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants." Psalm 135:14 ESV

It brings you closer to Jesus.

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:29 ESV

It deepens your relationships with others.

"with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:2-3 ESV

"Let your reasonableness[a] be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;" Philippians 4:5 ESV

a.Or gentleness

It helps to reduce stress and anger.

"A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1 ESV

After realizing that gentleness offers so much in my relationship with God and others, I can now show up softer in life. I have experienced the comfort of God and joy. & I want that for you too.