Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that the Holy Spirit wants to work in and through us to cultivating Christ like character in our lives. One of the nine virtues of the fruit of the Spirit that He wants to cultivate in our lives is that of gentleness. Unfortunately, gentleness is something that is severely lacking in our current culture. The reality is that gentleness is something we all want but very few of us give. We want and even expect other people around us to be understanding, kind, and gentle but rarely do we lead with gentleness and reciprocate it in our relationships. So what is gentleness? The dictionary defines it as being considerate, mild and soft. As a result, when we think of gentleness we often associate it with weakness, seeing it as being a push over or a door mate. But growing in gentleness does not mean becoming weak but rather walking in wisdom as we walk in obedience to God’s Word. Sadly so often we live our lives based on fear instead of faith. In this case, we fear being a doormat so instead of leading with love and gentleness we are gruff and rough with people. And while we initially think it will protect us from the fear of being used or controlled, what it actually does is hurt the hearts of others and lead to the loss of relationship, lowliness, and isolation. The very thing we were afraid of happening is what we actually create. Letting your fears control and dictate how you live leads to creating and cultivating those very fears. As I have already stated in a previous devotion when it came to language the Greeks were extremely precise and expressive. When they developed a word, they not only gave it a careful definition, they almost always illustrated it. Their definition for gentleness was “strength under control,” was used to describe a wild stallion that had been tamed or broken. The tamed stallion still has the same power only now it was productive power instead of destructive. God wants to cultivate gentleness in our lives so that instead of being wild animals who end up hurting and bruising others we can help and bless them. Being gentle does not mean being weak and wimpy, it means to have strength but to have it under control. Now the Bible is clear that those who call Christ their master will display gentleness. Philippians 4:5  challenges Christians too, “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” As we walk closely with Him, His gentleness should rub off on us. In fact spending time walking and talking to God is the only way that we can be gentle. When it comes to gentleness the Bible gives us two tasks:

1. Pursue it.

We can’t just sit back and hope that we’ll become gentle. 1 Timothy 6:11 says, “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” The word, “Pursue” means to chase after it, to make gentleness a priority worth pursuing. So let me ask you, what are you pursuing? Sadly many of us in our pursuit of happiness are pursuing destructive things instead of constructive things because we are pursuing our agenda instead of the Almighty’s agenda. We end up pursuing poison instead of that which is profitable and productive. Not only are we called to pursue gentleness but second we are called to:

2. Put it on.

Once we find gentleness, we’re to clothe ourselves with it. Through an act of the will we decide to put it on, much like we put on our clothes. Colossians 3:12: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” The problem is that many of us view the garments of gentleness as outdated and old fashioned. Today Christians we want to be hip and cool because we care more about how we look than how we live. That is why when it comes to Gentleness today we could call this the forgotten or the forsaken fruit because gentleness is something we see as a weakness instead of a strength. When we look at Gentleness through a worldly lens instead of the Word’s we will see it as a burden instead of a blessing. That’s because a worldly lens views life from the perspective of self instead of service. We end up reject gentleness because we don’t want to get used and abused, but instead of us getting walked on we end up stepping on and hurting others, instead of helping and serving them. That’s why today there are more hurtful horses than humble ones. So let me ask you are you looking at life through the lens of the world or the Word? Is your life built around self or serving? Is your primary focus me or ministering to others. Where would you say that you spend the majority of your time talents and treasures, on self or serving the Savior? Gentleness is not just a principle but something we should put into practice in our lives. Too many of us have become content with preaching Biblical principles instead of practicing them. As a result, our kids have become disillusioned with Christianity and are walking away from Christ’s church in droves because as parents what we are projecting are principles on paper instead of practices in person. Look Christianity is practical it should show up in our personal relationships. What if today you chose to give God’s gift of gentleness? Who do you know that needs a gentle word or a gentle hug? Don’t let the culture cultivate and conform your heart and cause it to become hard, instead let Christ be in charge and let Him grow you in gentleness. For it is the gentle saints that are the true giants because they are not just strong, they use their strength to serve, building up others instead of bruising them.

Matthew 5:5 – “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

In Psalm 37 the aging King David compares and contrasts the lifestyle and outcomes of the wicked and the righteous. Between those who live to please only themselves and those who have surrendered their wills to God. He reminds us that while the wicked may appear to prosper, they will soon fade like the grass. Though they draw their swords and bend their bows, and rely on violence and human strength, their day of accountability is coming and like smoke, they will vanish away. David reminds us that those who commit their way to the Lord, who take delight in His will and His ways, who choose to be still before Him and not take matters into their own hands, who patiently trust in Him, refraining from anger and forsaking wrath have this promise in verse 11: “The meek shall possess the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.” So what does this Psalm have to teach us about meekness? That we need to commit our way to the Lord, and when we trust in Him He will act, verse 5. Meek people are not weak people they are those who trust God and have the blessed assurance that He is for them and not against them. While they may not know what tomorrow will bring, they know who holds tomorrow. Verse 6 reminds us that, “He will bring forth your vindication as the light, and your right as the noonday.” Meek people are those who instead of trying harder are trusting Him. Instead of taking matters into their own hands they have given their burdens, their fears, anxieties, frustrations, and worry over to God and are trusting in Him to sustain them. Verse 7 instructs us to, “Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.” Meek people are willing to wait patiently for God and trust in his timing, instead of exploding with anger and frustration or allow bitterness and resentment to simmer in their hearts over the apparent triumphs of those who oppose them. Instead of trying to justify themselves they leave matters in God’s hands, exhibiting a quiet confidence that He has their life circumstances firmly in His loving care and will work all things out both for His purposes and their best. Since “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof”, meek people know they do not need to try to grab at it or try to take it by force, because ultimately it is the blessed inheritance of those who have made the Lord their God and in His time it will be given to them. In James 1:19-21 we read, “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.” Here James is referring to two kinds of people, those who seem to live on the defensive and are easily irritated and quickly become angry without taking the time to really hear what another is saying. The word of God is often lost on them because they take that word as a personal attack. And those who are meek, and by contrast chose to listen carefully, because they are teachable. They allow the word of God to soak into their souls as they reflect and ponder on that word so that God’s righteousness might be revealed in their lives. It is important to note that this passage clearly states that the meek are “slow to anger”. It does not state that the meek never get angry. In fact, at times they do and they need to because not all anger is in and of itself a bad thing. There is righteous and unrighteous anger. Remember that when Moses, the meekest man on earth, came down from Mt. Sinai with the 10 Commandments he had received from God and saw the people dancing around and worshiping the golden calf they had made, in holy and righteous anger he threw down and broke the stone tablets. When Jesus went into the temple in Jerusalem and saw the cheating and corruption of the money changers, He was consumed with Holy anger. He made a whip out of ropes, threw over the money changers tables and chased them out of the temple courtyard saying, “My Father’s house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it into a den of robbers.” When the meek get angry, it is not because their personal feelings have gotten hurt or because their noses have been bent out of shape, remember instead of getting hung up on their hurts they take those hurts and heartaches to the Lord and allow Him to heal them. They give no place to the enemy and don’t allow hurts to stir up bitterness and resentment because “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God”. No, their anger is based on the Almighty, they are angry over what angers Him. There are some things that should anger us when I see people abusing women that should make me angry. But the key becomes what we do with that anger so that its emotional energy becomes productive, not destructive. Is the result of your anger destructive or constructive, is it profitable or just painful? Are we being like Jesus, who turned God’s house from a place of profit into a place of prayer? As Matthew 5:5 states the meek are blessed and truly happy, for they shall inherit the earth. You see the meek are able to be at peace because they know that God has everything under control. And even if they have to endure some adversity here and now, they know that ultimately His purposes will be worked out. They trust God and are confident that wickedness and evil will not have the final word, but that truth and righteousness will prevail. Meek people understand that the earth and all that is in it remains the property of the Lord and that He has chosen to make it the inheritance of those who chose to walk in humility with Him. Contrary to the lies that the world wants you to listen to, the truth is that the mighty are those who are meek. What about you, are you following in the footsteps of Jesus and walking in meekness or are you trusting in self and striding in pride. As we submit to the supremacy of Christ he starts to cultivate a heart of humility in us and mold us into people of strength as He takes us from weak to meek.