Is gentleness a sign of weakness? Surely not. In fact it’s a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:23. Here, Paul contrasts the sinful actions that we have left behind (or try to), with a life in the Spirit where the Spirit develops our gentleness. Gentleness is something we should have, and have more of!
It’s probably easier to define gentleness by what it is not – rude, quick-tempered, and selfish, to name a few.
In one instance in 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Paul wrote that by being gentle in teaching the gospel, he was like a mother nursing her children, despite the fact that he could have made demands on the believers. What he said “we worked day and night… as we preached to you the Good News” (vs. 9) recalled the Old Testament prophets whose lives and words reminded God’s people to worship him, and John the Baptist who prepared people about the coming of Jesus.
Jesus was also gentle to the people around him. Through his teaching and actions, he showed perfect gentleness. Far from being selfish, he taught that he was sent by the Father whom he obeyed totally (e.g. see what Jesus says in John 5). Even with the Pharisees, he explained the truth and did not resort to violence to get his way.
The Pharisees had sadly distorted the truth in order to gain authority for themselves. Far from showing gentleness, they implemented their own religious rules on the people that detracted them from worshiping God. They also schemed many ways to get rid of Jesus.
Jesus was gentle even to the point of death.
- Through his obedience to his Father, Jesus brings about God’s plan of salvation for everyone.
- His gentleness opens the way for all people to know God: Jesus is the way (John 3:16) and that knowing him, we enjoy life to the full (John 10:10).
Gentleness is a strong virtue. In reality, we are often bullied, called names, and discriminated against. So, how does gentleness work out? Paul’s passage above does affirm our greater role of “gospel bearers”. In our words and deeds, we show gentleness despite difficult circumstances. In many parts of the world, facing more persecution is a fact of life for people who turn their lives to Jesus.
Given unceasing persecution, what can increase is our gentleness: not to return evil with evil, but with good (Romans 12:9:21).
However, this does not mean we throw ourselves to the lions without any reasons.
Some guidance on gentleness is useful here, for example: working amongst the most “hard-hearted” people, who refused the good news harshly, is probably the calling for the very few, while the rest of us should move on (Matthew 10:9-15 and Acts 13:51:49-52 are relevant). In fact, Jesus condemned the towns who did not repent having heard his teaching and seen miracles (Matthew 11:20-24).
So, yes, gentleness is part of being a Christian, and is evidence of our following Jesus. In our own lives, and that of our church, let us use our resources in reaching others with the gospel. God uses us as his instrument to reach out to people. Not only a messenger or witness, we are God’s specimen, a living proof of God himself. Gentleness is one of the potent marks of sons and daughters of the living God.
