Live Juicy - A 10 Week Study of the Fruit of the Spirit - Week Nine

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. 2 Timothy 2:24-26

What is your first reaction to the word gentleness? Perhaps, like me, you connect the word with weakness. I believe society has taught us to view gentleness as a liability and covered up the real power of being a gentle giant.

The fruit of the Spirit of gentleness is part of the final trifecta of fruits, it is an attribute we cultivate as we mature as Christians. It is a more ripened fruit if you will. We are going to look at three aspects of gentleness: submission, humility, and teachability. As Paul observed in 2 Corinthians 12:10, we are going to see how, when we are weak, then we are strong.

The Greek word for gentleness is praotes, which, according to Biblehub.com, means to display the right blend of force and reserve. It means finding strength in gentleness.

In The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, praotes is described as an inward grace of the soul, calmness toward God, the acceptance of God’s dealings with us. It also means expressing wrath toward the sin of man. It is the virtue that stands between uncontrollable anger at evil and passivity to the evil around us.

Submission

In a recent battle with my faith, specifically in regards to my writing, I hesitated to submit to the will of God. I prayed for direction in the coming months and expected God to find a way to make the writing life easier, to bring about a change that would encompass a time of rest. I had crossed my arms over my chest, stuck out my chin, and proposed a solution I thought would be better than what God had offered.

Perhaps you have resisted God’s ways in your life, too? Perhaps, you have tried to hold on to something God is trying to release you from? Praotes is resting from the resistance. When we let go and let God, we find a new destination. Submission blows our relationship with God into the next level of maturity. I love how God can make submission such a beautiful experience, don’t you?

Humility

As we look at the fruit of gentleness and recognize it as a place where we stop fighting God and submit to Him, we will discover we cannot do this without a dose of humility. Let us look at what happens when we follow God’s command to humble ourselves before Him.

If we humble ourselves, God will forgive our sins. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Because we humble ourselves, God hears us. (2 Chronicles 34:27)
When we humble ourselves, God answers our prayers. (Ezra 8:21-23)
Humble yourself before God, and He will lift you up. (James 4:10)
God shows favor to the humble. (1 Peter 5:5)

When you look in the mirror and ask, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” What response do you hope to hear? What response does God give you? Humility requires us to see ourselves authentically and accurately know God.

So, how do we humble ourselves? In Beth Moore’s book, Living Beyond Yourself, she says, “Seek Him, and you’ll find Him. Find Him, and you’ll find yourself…bowing down before Him. And you will not be able to resist giving Him back your every treasure.”

When I wrestled with God over my writing life, He proposed I give up a treasure He had recently given me—extra time to enjoy a new hobby. I was hanging on with dear life to this precious time, and pride kept me from letting lose of it. Guess what? When I humbled myself before the Lord and offered ALL of it back to Him, He made time for me to enjoy both a rejuvenated writing life and time with my new hobby! When I let go: God forgave me, heard my pleas, answered my prayers, lifted me up in my writing, and showed favor to me with time to do more than I asked for.

Be Teachable

Are you teachable? If asked this question of myself, I would usually say, “Of course, I love learning.” However, God has been challenging me on this lately. The question He has been asking me is, “So, you know what is right, but are you doing what is right?”

James 1:21-22 says, “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

Have you ever read a self-help book? I used to devour them! I would read one after another in search of the answer to what was wrong with me and how to fix it. Even after reading several of these books, I remained broken and unchanged. I finally realized taking in information without application was a foolish and time-consuming act. I now choose my reading material very carefully because I am committed to putting into action what I learn. The first year I put into action what I read, I spent two years studying Boundaries. I did not allow myself to read any other self-help book until God had finished teaching me a life-changing lesson on boundaries. It took two rotations of the sun, but He forever changed me.

Summary

Gentleness is an attribute of the fruit of the Spirit nestled in the tension between being too harsh and standing up against sin. It requires us to let go of our pride, submit to God’s will, remain humble in acknowledging who we are in Christ, and put God’s Word into action.

Are you a gentle giant? Can you see how gentleness applies even force in the correct way to situations? How has God been gentle with you in a way that changed you?

Heavenly Father, forgive me for the sin of pride, where I did not want to go gently in the way you led me. Help me to forever have a submissive heart to your will and your way. I want to remain humble in your sight and welcome your transformation. Help me choose to do what is right and not just sit in the knowledge of Your Word. In Jesus’ name. Amen.