Gentleness

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 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 4:1-3

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 15:1

We have all at one time or another come across someone who tries to teach you something very loudly.  I know I have unfortunately been that person to someone else as well.  It could be about any topic, but politics and religion seem more than others to spark this tendency.  They become very animated as they speak, the volume increases, they interrupt often and use very forceful arguments.  You walk away in time and you may very well believe whatever it was that person was saying but even if you do, it is unlikely to stick because of the harshness of the delivery.   All you remember is the emotion.

As Christians, we need to be able to discuss the wonders and joys of living for God without resorting to this behavior.  We should be able to discuss that living a Christ centered life brings happiness in this life and eternal peace in the next in a gentle and persuasive fashion.  We need to inspire others to follow Christ and convince them of the truth found in God’s word without beating them on the head with the book.  Following Peter’s advice, “...in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15)

It’s easy for us to understand gentleness but easy to understand and easy to do are not the same thing.  We can be harsh in the way we talk to other people without even realizing it or meaning to.  Like everything else worth doing, gentleness is learned by practice.  And if we read about Jesus, we can learn how he did it.  Jesus wanted to help those who were hurting and in the end, His gentle strength was evident to all. And He is still giving mercy to everyone through us as His brothers and sisters.  We gently and patiently bear the burden of others and humbly try to help each other through this life because that is what He did.  If we tell others about that when we help them, not only will we grow by speaking the truth in love, but they may want to know Him more too!