The Fruit of the Spirit is…Gentleness

Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

The fruit of the Spirit is…gentleness.  Gentle.  Men don’t like this word.  Many are afraid of it – to be gentle I mean.  Why?

The word gentleness means “meekness”, or “humility”.  Today some people are afraid to be meek or humble.  They feel it gets us nowhere.  Today you have to exert yourself, you have to forceful, express your anger, or else people will use you, misuse you and even abuse you!  So, to be gentle is not acceptable advice.

But, when the Spirit moves in your life, to change you and bring Christ-likeness, He will bring gentleness.  Why?  Because our God is gentle.  Our Lord is gentle.

Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Why did our Lord claim to be gentle?  The ones God is calling here in this passage are those who are weary and burdened because of sin.  When we come to Him, because He is gentle, He will not shout, curse, hit or shame us.  He will give us rest for our souls.  Imagine a just and righteous God, who has every right to be violent and harsh with us because of our sin, calling us to come to Him and find rest in Him.  That’s a gentle heart.

God wants the same gentleness in us, especially when we are in conflict, when there are differences, and when we need to express our anger.  We need to deal with each other in gentleness.  There are some who believe that the only way to deal with others who we correct, rebuke or argue with is to shout, use harsh words.

There are others who feel that they can gain the respect of others by being harsh and hard in our actions and words.  Others feel strong, in control, and so are violent and harsh in their ways.  Many men are like this – to show their authority over their wives, or their children, to be “macho” they use harsh words and even violence.

But for the Lord gentleness is His way.

Colossians 3:12 (NIV)
12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

To be gentle does not mean to be soft or weak.  It simply means that, though we are angry or correcting someone’s mistake, we do it in a way that is encouraging, that will build up a person, and that will glorify the name of our God.

True gentleness is not just about action.  It’s about heart.  A gentle person is someone who has experienced the gentleness of his God, who was gracious and loving towards us who deserved punishment and harsh words from God.  And because our hearts have been softened by this work of grace and gentleness, we, too, deal with others with the same heart.

A heart that is gentle in its ways and words is a heart that trusts in God, knowing that it is not our harshness or violence that will move people to do something, but God.  We trust that it is God who will move in the heart of the person we are correcting or arguing with, and the One in control of the situation is not us but God.  And so we don’t do things our way, but God’s way.  And God’s way, the fruit of the Spirit, is gentleness.

Ephesians 4:2 (NIV)
2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Prayer – between us and God.

Matthew 6:5-6 (NIV)
5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Prayer, simply put, is communion between a child of God and his/her heavenly Father.  It’s more than just communicating, than just saying something to God – even more than just asking.  It’s communion, fellowship, a special time with the One who loves us with an eternal love, whose grace is so amazing.  That’s what prayer is meant to be, a special time between us and God.

And that’s what it is simply meant to be – a special time between us and God.  Whether we’re having our devotional time, or praying for our food, or praying in public (like praying for food, or praying for others), prayer is between us and God.

Sadly, the Pharisees made prayer a “show”.  They prayed to be seen by men.  They wanted others to know they were praying, how spiritual or righteous they were, through their prayer.  So prayer stopped being a personal thing between them and God, but, rather, a personal thing between them and people.

We all have a tendency to be like the Pharisees, right?  The Lord was not against public prayer, for there are many times we have to pray in public.  What the Lord was concerned about was the motive, what our hearts were after.  Don’t we have the tendency, when praying in public, to pray as to be seen by men, rather than praying to be seen by God and God alone?

When we “practice” what we pray, are we not doing it to impress others?  When we use “big” words, or make sure that we are using theologically correct words, so others may think we are righteous or spiritual, are we not praying for others rather than for God?  When we turn down requests for us to lead in prayer, afraid that we may not have the right kind of prayer that will “bless” other Christians, are we not praying for men, rather than for God?

This is why Jesus said when we pray we are to go to our room, close the door, and pray to our Father who is not seen.  We’re not out to impress anyone.  We’re praying to spend time with God.  And the best way to do it is to pray from the heart.

We don’t have to worry how we pray in public, if we pray in private everyday.  No matter how simple our prayers are, if they are from the heart, and if they are a fruit of our communion with God, then it is a prayer that is acceptable to God.

So the next time we pray, let’s make it a simple time of communion with our Lord, and enjoy it!  And, the next time we are asked to pray in public, we don’t need to say “no”, and no need to practice making sure we’re using the right words.  Just pray from your heart.  Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.