Gentleness

God has many characteristics like power, holiness, love, and glory. We can draw on these divine characteristics in order to become like Jesus. His Spirit is inside us. So when we feel weak, we can draw strength from Christ who can do all things. When we need wisdom, we can get it from God because he knows everything. When we need love, we can receive it from God because his love is poured out in our hearts.

The more we see of God, the more we are changed into his image. 

One characteristic of God that is vitally important but not talked about a lot is gentleness. God is gentle. God’s gentleness makes us great (Psalm 18:35). When God is gentle with us it causes us to prosper and succeed in him. if God’s gentleness makes us great, then our gentleness with others can also make them great. As we learn about God’s gentleness, we can become more gentle ourselves.

Gentleness is a concept that is currently out of fashion in the world. The world today values pomp, bravado, and brashness. Force and might are valued, and gentleness seems out the window. Politicians are rude, hurling insults. World leaders seem coarse and rough.

Gentleness is misunderstood. People often think that gentleness is bad and is a sign of weakness. They think gentleness will lead to defeat in their worldly dealings. People say, “no one will respect me unless I fight for my rights.”

Jesus is gentle. He is lowly in heart. Because of his gentleness we can come to him and he will take our burdens. We will find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-30).

Jesus was a different kind of king. Kings of the world come in with pomp and power, riding on strong horses full of decorations. Jesus is king of the universe, but he came into Jerusalem riding on a baby donkey (Matthew 21:5). Poor people rode on donkeys, baby donkeys were ridden by children. Jesus rode on a baby donkey showing us that we should not prioritize fleshly displays of power.

Jesus ran off to get the lost sheep. He sympathizes with us. His Spirit is our helper and comforter.

For us to understand gentleness, we must know it by divine revelation. We won’t learn about it from the world. We will learn about gentleness from God.

Throughout the Bible God reveals his gentleness in many different ways.

One example of God’s gentleness is how he dealt with the prophet Elijah when he was feeling discouraged (1 Kings 19:1-7).

Elijah had just destroyed the prophets of Baal and cofounded fallen angels on the top of Mount Carmel. Right after this, evil Queen Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah. Elijah was so afraid of Jezebel that he ran away into the wilderness and hid under a bush. He prayed and asked God to take away his life.

God might have rebuked Elijah for his behavior. Elijah was running away from Jezebel because he was afraid. God might have told Elijah “Don’t be afraid, be full of faith.” Elijah was depressed. God could have told Elijah the joy of the Lord is his strength. Elijah was being attacked by Satan, and God might have told Elijah to overcome the devil by the word of his testimony and remembering the power of God in smashing idolatry on Carmel. Elijah was praying to die. God might have told Elijah to stop having a pity party and get his act together.

But God didn’t say any of these things.

Instead, God caused an angel to bake Elijah a good meal and give him a drink. God was being gentle with Elijah.

After Elijah ate this food and slept, he ran to a cave.

There he had a revelation of God.

There was a powerful wind, a mighty earthquake, and a strong fire. But God was not in any of these things. Then there was a still small voice. This was quiet sound was the voice of God.

God was known to Elijah in his moment of weakness in gentleness. This gentleness encouraged Elijah to keep going.

Gentleness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t come from ourselves, it comes from God. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit we will be gentle.

God commands us to pursue gentleness (1 Timothy 6:11).

At the end of the age, God’s people need to seek gentleness (Zephaniah 2:3).

Gentleness is connected to humility. A humble person can put others before himself. God is humble because he was willing to die for us. He made himself of no reputation. Humble people can be gentle.

Pride is the opposite of humility. Pride leads to arrogance, harshness, rudeness. Satan was proud, which caused him to seek great things and then destroy the world. Pride causes people to think of themselves first, to disregard others, and trample them down in pursuit of the own selfish ends. 

Jesus will deliver us from pride because he shows us that all that we have is from God and not from ourselves. Therefore we have nothing to boast about or to defend. God is our life, and he will take care of us.

Gentleness comes from trusting in God. We don’t need to bluster or force. God will cause the things to happen that he wants to happen. We don’t need to scheme or manipulate. We can ask God to give us the spiritual wisdom that we need to solve problems. We don’t need to fight back, God will fight for us. We don’t need to take vengeance when people treat us badly, God will avenge us. We don’t need to defend ourselves, God will defend us. We don’t need to get offended by people or situations, God will set things right. We don’t need to feel insecure and prove ourselves to others, because God defines who we are.

We can be gentle, because our God is the the mighty King of heaven and earth.

Strength and gentleness go together. God is ominpotent, and yet he is very gentle with his sheep (Isaiah 40:10-11). He is the good shepherd who gently leads us to green pastures and still waters so he can restore our souls. 

When we are strong in Christ, he will give us grace to be gentle with others, even when they don’t seem to deserve it. Then Christ will be living his life in us and through us, and God will be glorified as we are transformed into his image.