GENTLENESS

The fruit of the Spirit is . . . gentleness—Galatians 5:22

Have you heard a sermon recently on gentleness? What a beautiful characteristic that is seldom seen. Gentleness is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Actually there is only one Spirit and one fruit of the Spirit, Paul just describes the characteristics the Spirit portrays in our lives. One way to describe The Lord Jesus is in that beautiful word, gentleness. Jesus was gentle and kind. Now don’t misunderstand, He was filled with power and boldness but He had nothing to prove. He was unafraid of what people could do to Him, the result is gentleness. When He stood before Pilate and His accusers He remained silent and gentle as a lamb. Others would be cursing and threatening or maybe pleading and begging for their lives. Jesus was unaffected, He remained silent. Here is something A.B. Simpson said about gentleness.

“Nature’s harshness has melted away and she is now beaming with the smile of spring, and everything around us whispers of the gentleness of God. This beautiful fruit is in lovely harmony with the gentle month of which it is the keynote. May the Holy Spirit lead us these days into His purity, quietness and gentleness, subduing every coarse, rude, harsh and unholy habit. May He make us like Him-of whom it is said, He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. The man who is truly filled with Jesus will always be a gentleman. The woman who is baptized of the Holy Spirit will have the instincts of a perfect lady, although lowborn and untutored in the schools of earthly refinement. Let us receive and reflect the gentleness of Christ until the world will say of us, as the polished infidel Chesterfield once said of the saintly Fenelon, “if I had remained in his house another day, I should have had to become a Christian.” Lord, help us today to so yield to the gentle Dove-Spirit that our lives shall be as His life.”

We may have never thought of it like this before but one of the sure signs that someone has been baptized in the Spirit is gentleness. The presence of God upon us and in us breeds confidence. We are no longer filled with the fear of failure, failure is no longer an option for us. Being filled with the Spirit is actually being filled with the gentleness of Christ.
Have you ever seen the angry street preachers ? You can often spot them on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Angry and gentleness have nothing in common. When Christ anoints someone to preach the word fear flies out the window. Perfect love drives out fear.
I often think of the change that came over Peter after he was baptized in the Spirit. He was no longer afraid of death, he was filled with boldness, but Peter was characterized now by a new gentleness. The very gentleness of Christ.