The Fruit of the Spirit (8) Gentleness
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March 07, 2010 |
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 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).
In the dictionary gentleness is defined as the quality or state of being gentle, soft, tender, or mild. But spiritual gentleness is not simply mildness and soft tenderness. Those who are naïve or those who don't get angry at all due to low intelligence level may appear to be gentle in the eyes of the worldly people. But spiritual gentleness is something different.
1. The Meaning of Spiritual Gentleness
Spiritual gentleness is to have wisdom and the ability to discern between the right and wrong, but at the same time to have the ability to understand and accept everybody because there is no evil in them. Namely, spiritual gentleness is to have generosity and virtue coupled with a mild and soft character. If you have this virtuous generosity, you won't just be mild all the time, but you also have dignity when necessary.
The heart of the gentle person is as soft as cotton. If you throw a stone into cotton or poke it with a needle, the cotton will just cover and embrace the object. Likewise, no matter how other people treat them, those who are spiritually gentle will not have hard-feelings in their hearts towards them. Namely, they don't get angry or feel discomfort, and they do not give discomfort to others, either. They do not pass judgment or condemnation, but understand and accept others. People will feel a sense of comfort from these people so many people can come and find rest in those who are spiritually gentle.
2. Moses Acknowledged by God for His Gentleness
Numbers 12:3 says, "Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth." The number of the sons of Israel was more than 600,000 adult men. Including women and children it could have been much more than 2 million. Leading such a large number of people in itself would be a very difficult task for an ordinary person, especially leading these people who, as former slaves of Egypt, had hardened hearts. That is why the people disobeyed God time and time again even though Moses showed them such great power. When faced with just minor difficulty in their situations, they soon began to complain and stand against Moses. Just by seeing the fact that Moses led such people in the wilderness for 40 years, we can understand how spiritually gentle Moses had been.
Matthew 5:5 says, "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth." Here, 'to inherit the earth' does not mean you will receive a piece of land on this earth. It means that to the extent to which you accomplish gentleness you will receive a large piece of land in Heaven. Even though you have a very big piece of land here on earth, you cannot take it to Heaven. But if you receive land in Heaven by accomplishing gentleness, then it will be your eternal inheritance. You can spend happy moments forever in that place with the Lord and your dear ones.
3. How Can We Bear the Fruit of Gentleness?
Spiritually, a gentle heart is likened to good soil. If a man has a lot of evil, his heart is hardened like the soil of the roadside and he cannot accept the truth. Even if he hears the truth and receives God's grace, he soon has doubt and the grace pours out. He forsakes the grace to gain worldly things. But, even this kind of heart-soil can be changed into good soil if the person diligently works to change it. Even the most barren land can be changed into a good soil if the farmer diligently cultivates it. Even the hearts that are hardened like the hardened roadside-like fields can be plowed by the help of the Holy Spirit. Even the hearts that have envy, jealousy, quarrelling and other rough forms of the mind can become mild and gentle. The more you cultivate your heart this way, the more of the fruit of gentleness you will bear.
As you cultivate your heart-field into good soil, you will automatically bear other fruits of the Holy Spirit, too. But gentleness is more closely related with the plowing of the heart-field. You cannot become gentle unless you cast away hot-temper, hatred, envy, greed, quarrelling, boasting, self-righteousness, etc. With such characters of heart, other people cannot find rest in you. If you have spiritual gentleness, you will receive an answer to anything you ask, just like you get good fruits when you sow anything in a good field. You will also hear the voice of the Holy Spirit clearly so you will prosper in all things.
4. What Is Meant by Having both Gentleness and Virtuous Generosity?
First, virtuous generosity appears as both dignified and moderate actions. Those who are just mild all the time without proper discernments cannot accept others. They will be looked down upon and used by others. Those who have both gentleness and virtuous generosity have a proper standard of judgment. They do what is righteous by correctly discerning what is right and what is wrong.
When Jesus purified the Temple and rebuked the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the scribes, He was very strong and stern. He has a gentle heart so as not to so much as break bruised reeds or snuff out smoldering wicks, but still He rebuked the people harshly when He had to. If you have such dignity and righteousness in heart, people cannot look down on you even if you never raise your voice or try to become stern.
Next, virtuous generosity shows outwardly as actions of mercy and compassion coming from a broad heart. They not only help those who are in financial need, but also those who are spiritually weary and weak by comforting them and showing them grace. Just having the consideration in heart and showing the actual deeds will be very different for the person who is going through a problem. When the gentleness appears on the outside as virtuous deeds, it can give grace and life to others.
I hope that you will diligently cultivate your heart and bear the beautiful fruit of gentleness and thereby lead many souls to salvation.
To read this message in more detail, visit our website (www. manmin. org) and click on 'sermon'.
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