The Fruit of the Spirit (Gentleness)

April 14, 2023

The Fruit of the Spirit (Gentleness)

What is Biblical Gentleness?

Before getting into what the fruit of the Spirit gentleness means, let’s take a look at the verses of Scripture that the fruits of the Spirit come from. Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” The Apostle Paul through the leading of the Holy Spirit is breaking down the character traits that the Lord wants us to develop as believers of Jesus Christ.

The fruits of the Spirit are all listed and each one plays a significant role in how we conduct ourselves in our everyday life. The word gentleness in Merriam Webster’s dictionary means: the quality or state of being gentle especially: mildness of manners or disposition. The word gentleness in the verses of Scripture out of the book of Galatians is the Greek word praotēs which means gentleness, mildness, and meekness.

In order for us to develop this level of true gentleness it is going to require the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the One that is going to shape and mold you into the image of Jesus Christ. He is the One that will guide you, lead you, and help you stay on track. That includes keeping your behaviors and attitude in line with the Word of God.

This is why passages like Galatians 5:22-23 are so important because it gives us an idea of what traits the Lord is expecting from people that are followers of Jesus. We have to be willing to approach our walk with Christ with a very humble spirit knowing that we need Him to help us navigate our journey as believers. That takes dying to yourself daily and transforming by the renewing of your mind, Romans 12:2.

Unfortunately a lot of us were raised viewing a gentle attitude as an unfavorable trait. We’re supposed to be tough not allowing things to bother us because that puts you in a “vulnerable” state susceptible to be taken advantage of. This is a snare of the devil! He wants to make it hard for you to develop a heart of compassion with the ability to give a soft answer taking the feelings of others into consideration.

Any fruit of the Holy Spirit is God’s character and the enemy cannot stand it! As a faithful servant of God it is our responsibility to try to establish biblical gentleness to the best of our abilities. It’s about submitting your negative emotions to the Holy Spirit which will help make sure that you honor the Lord in everything that you say and do.

I’m going to go over some verses of Scripture that will give you examples of gentleness.

Also don’t forget to get caught up on the other articles pertaining to the Fruit of the Spirit: The Fruit of the Spirit (Love), The Fruit of the Spirit (Joy), The Fruit of the Spirit (Peace), The Fruit of the Spirit (Longsuffering), The Fruit of the Spirit (Goodness), and The Fruit of the Spirit (Faithfulness).

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Here we can see Jesus giving us an invitation to give all of our burdens to Him and that is how we will find rest. He is not talking about physical rest rather more so spiritual rest for our souls. The soul consists of our mind, will, and emotion. These are the areas in our lives that seem to be the hardest to tame. It causes us to create unnecessary burdens that we don’t need.

That is why He wants us as Christians in the Kingdom of God to have enough faith in Him to take care of our problems for us. Often times, we want to be the sole driver of our vehicle when the Lord wants to be the One that is in the driver seat. He is telling us that if we trust Him, our burdens will be light in weight instead of heavy and oppressive.

Then He goes on to detail the example that He wants us to learn from when it comes to our character. Jesus states, “…learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart…,” Matthew 11:29. We can conclude that He wants us to follow His lead when it comes to exhibiting positive characteristics like being gentle and lowly (humble). You cannot have gentleness without humbleness because the two go hand in hand.

You will recognize when there is a lack of gentleness in your life because there will be no compassion, humility, or spiritual growth. It can be a difficult process to develop the attributes that will distinguish you as a Christian because your flesh will try to get in the way. This is especially the case when it comes to family members or people that you love being disrespectful.

Your natural response is to retaliate and take matters into your own hands. The Lord doesn’t want you to do that, He wants to take those burdens from you, vengeance is His and He is the One that will repay, Romans 12:19. Let the Holy Spirit have His way in your life and allow Him to develop His fruit. It will completely transform your entire frame of mind.

John 4:16-18

“Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

Here we have another example of the gentleness of Christ found in the New Testament. He took it upon Himself to speak to a Samaritan woman even though it was frowned upon. He wasn’t interested in the strict customs of that time; He was interested in trying to reach the Samaritan woman’s heart.

His gentle attitude and gentle nature allowed Him to speak to her in a way that was not condescending or belittling. He knew her story but at the end of the day she was still deserving of His love no matter what she had done in the past. How many of us would have approached this situation with a judgmental spirit? A lot of people would point out her sin instead of embracing her and showing her the love of Jesus.

A lack of gentleness when dealing with people will prevent you from being a successful witness for Christ. Why? It requires you to have compassion, love, and a gentle spirit in order for you to see past another person’s unfavorable traits and love them anyway. You want them to be able to see the light of Christ shining through you.

Let’s take a look at the outcome of the Lord’s gentle words towards the Samaritan woman. John 4:39-41 accounts, “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word.”

The gentleness of Jesus allowed Him to bring many to the knowledge of Who He was and many believed. Had He approached her in a negative way because of her sinful lifestyle, she wouldn’t have been eager to spread the good news about Him. That is why it is so important that we treat people the way that we want to be treated.

There is no way that you are going to be able to be the example of God’s gentleness if you: speak harshly to others, you are condescending, belittling, or you demean a person’s characters. That kind of negative attitude will never draw others to Christ. At the end of the day it’s about sharing with others the amazing God that you serve so that they can have an encounter with Him just like you did!

Titus 3:1-2

“Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.”

Here are some passages of Scripture from the Old Testament where the Apostle Paul is giving Titus direction on how to advise the people in the church to live Godly lives. Paul’s description is very detailed down to how they should act and speak as believers of Jesus Christ. Here we can see how he uses the word gentle (fair, mild, and impartial).

We can also see the use of the word humility in these verses of Scripture out of the Bible. Remember the two words go hand and hand because you cannot be one and not the other. Then we see Paul going on to give examples of gentleness when he states, “…to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable…” These are just a few of the ways that a person can exude gentleness.

Then the Apostle gives us the reasons why having a spirit of gentleness is so significant. Titus 3:3 states, “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.” This verse is so powerful because it lets us know that we have no right to judge our brothers and sisters in Christ because we were once living a life of sin.

The Lord had to snatch you out of darkness and into the light. Darkness meaning: the sin that you were in, the words that you spoke, the way that you dressed, and how you conducted yourself. We all have struggled in different ways, some more than others, but we were all sinners from birth, Psalm 51:5. Everyone has their own walk and their own story and we need to approach others with a gentle spirit and humility.

Then the Apostle Paul reveals to us one of the most important passages of Scripture in the book of Titus. He shows us how God’s Holy Spirit plays a vital role in our transformation process. Titus 3:5 discloses “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” In other words there is nothing that we can do to renew our own hearts and minds. It takes the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit washing us with God’s Word.

Conclusion

As believers of Jesus Christ we are God’s representatives here on Earth for people that don’t know Who He is. He has entrusted us with His power through the Holy Spirit to be able to develop His characteristics so that we can become successful disciples for Him. The fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 are so important because they give you an idea of what attributes God expects from us.

The more that you get into the Word of God, pray, and develop an intimate relationship with the Lord, the more you will understand Who He is. We should want to strive to be more and more like Christ every single day and one of His most power qualities is gentleness. He has a love for people that cannot be comprehended.

God’s will for us is that we shine His amazing light to those that are lost and don’t know Who He is. That will be a difficult thing to do if your attitude causes people to want to stay away from you. With the help of the Holy Spirit, you can develop every part of the fruit of the Spirit. You have to be willing to put forth the effort and allow Him to transform your life.

Also, don’t forget to check out my other blogs:

The Fruit of the Spirit (Faithfulness)

The Fruit of the Spirit (Goodness)

The Fruit of the Spirit (Kindness)

The Fruit of the Spirit (Longsuffering)

The Fruit of the Spirit (Peace)

The Fruit of the Spirit (Joy)

The Fruit of the Spirit (Love)

Overcoming the Spirit of Fear-Part 1

Overcoming the Spirit of Fear-Part 2

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 1

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 2