Galatians 5: 23 Gentleness, a Fruit of the Spirit

Gentleness is the eighth of nine Godly virtues given to us by God through His Holy Spirit when we come to Him in faith, in Christ.  Paul describes gentleness as meekness in the King James version of the Bible.  Since meekness is no longer a commonly used word, newer translations use gentleness.  Meekness is one of the beatitudes in Matthew 5:5.  The beatitudes are beautiful attitudes for which God promises blessings.  Gentleness is therefore, a beautiful attitude. 

The attitude of gentleness is a Fruit of the Holy Spirit.  Reacting in gentleness is a learned quality which matures and grows within our spirits as the Holy Spirit and his gifts increase.  Our natural (human nature) responses decrease as the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom and increased self-control over impulsive reactions in conflict. 

Jesus demonstrated true gentleness in the midst of conflict and in His popularity.  Being sure of whom He was, allowed Him to react in a gentle and humble way in response to His friends and to His adversaries.  In the same way, we must be aware of our power in the Holy Spirit.  Knowing who we are in God, enables us to react gently and humbly to people in our lives.  We become more aware of others and their needs.    The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to not view our own needs as primary.  We can see the bigger picture.

We face conflict daily in our lives.  It seems natural to react to others with a defensive attitude.  The wrong attitude causes us to respond in anger with harsh words or even violence.  Our human nature reacts impulsively when we are insecure about who we are, and insecure about what our position is.  When we have received the Holy Spirit and His gifts into our lives and accept the reality of who we are in Christ, we trust Him to help us to become gentler and humbler in the midst of conflict.

I am certainly, and in no way, perfected in this area.  I have always instructed my daughters, “learn not to react impulsively to thoughtless harsh words”.  They both seem to be better at it than I have been but I am learning to take my own advice.  Knowing and reacting are two different things.  This is where the Holy Spirit’s teaching and His gift of gentleness, with a forgiving attitude, comes in.  Much more is accomplished when a situation of conflict is discussed at a future time when all involved have calmed down.  The Holy Spirit is in the process of taming and training my spirit.  I want Him to teach me to react as Christ would have reacted.  Christ did display righteous anger to the money changers at the temple.  Learning how to react in conflict is a process.  I do not want to under act or to over act.

Jesus, help me to be slower to react in most situations.  Help me to be gentler in conflict.  Help me to know your purpose in my life in any given situation.  I want to be a reflection of you, in gentleness, as I journey through this present life.   In daily situations and in conflicts may your Holy Spirit direct me and teach me as your fruits grow within me.  Thank you, Lord!