The Fruit Of The Spirit: Gentleness!

When we hear the word gentle, we might think of a mother picking up her infant son from a crib. She softly holds him and cradles his head, moving slowly and not holding so tight as to squeeze him.

We might also think about an archaeologist on a dig, patiently and carefully unearthing artifacts with the slow strokes of his or her delicate instruments.

Now, instead, imagine that mother gripping the baby by the leg and dragging him out of the crib like a sack of potatoes. Also, imagine the archaeologist getting a shovel and chopping hard at the ground around the artifact, smashing against the precious piece of history.

Which examples better describe how people in the world treat each other overall?

Jesus’ example of gentleness

Even after thoroughly pointing out the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus Christ defined a spirit of gentleness and showed how He truly felt about even those who were opposed to Him. In Matthew 23:37 He lamented: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”

Gentleness is feeling this way about other human beings.

In Matthew 11:29, Christ said, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (emphasis added throughout). Here Christ makes a connection between gentleness and humility.

This connection is also seen elsewhere in the Bible. The apostle Paul reinforced this idea in 2 Corinthians 10:1: “Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you.”

Paul included the words meekness and lowly in conjunction with gentleness. These words help show that gentleness requires humility, because along with pride and feelings of superiority come rough reactions and stubborn, know-it-all answers.

What is gentleness? It is the humble and meek attitude of wanting to help other people instead of wanting to be superior to them. This attitude flows from a spirit of real love for the individual—having true, outgoing concern for their well-being. Such an attitude is shown in how we think about and treat others and what we say to them.

Why does God want us to demonstrate gentleness?

Philippians 4:5 tells us to “let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.” Why does God want those He is working with to be concerned with how gently they think, act or talk? God has all the power in the universe, yet He is gentle with us, and He wants us to learn to be like Him. Then, when He gives us power, He will know that we will not use it cruelly or rashly.

As we have seen, humility is closely connected with gentleness, so we need to also consider how God views humility. James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5 both say, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (quoting Proverbs 3:34). God resists pride, including our prideful justifications for not being gentle to those who have offended us, who have been harsh to us or who we don’t feel deserve gentleness. These attitudes are prideful and lead to rationalizing away the need to be gentle.

God wants us to show the same gentleness that Christ showed to the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). Instead of being full of pride and self-righteously casting the first stone at a sinner, we are to follow the example of Christ, gently telling someone to go and sin no more. This is an example of gentleness God wants us to learn from.

Why? There are several reasons: God is overwhelmingly gentle with us when we sin and need correction, and He expects us to be the same way with others. Also, gentleness shows the world that the way of violent encounters and situations ruled by emotion is not the better way. And God wants us to demonstrate gentleness because human beings require a gentle touch in order to truly change their lives and come to Him.

An example of gentleness to follow

A wonderful example of how clever and appealing gentleness can be is found in Acts 17. When Paul began his message to the Athenians, he clearly took into account the background and situation of the people with their many gods. He started out by noting how they were very religious, and then proceeded to comment on one altar he had seen with the inscription “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.” “Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you” (verse 23).

This was a gentle way of easing people out of the idea of dozens of gods and into the idea of the true God. Even though some mocked, others asked to hear more, and some even joined and believed.

Imagine if Paul had not been gentle in this situation—if he had said, “Men of Athens! You have sinned greatly with your terrible gods! You are very ignorant about anything religious! Pray for mercy that you evil sinners may not be struck down as the wicked!” Would he have had any takers? Probably not. Here, Paul proved Proverbs 15:1, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

An example to avoid

Two of the disciples provide an example of a lack of gentleness. The story (found in Luke 9:51-56) involves Jesus Christ traveling to Jerusalem with His disciples. When they tried to pass through a Samaritan village, the people there did not receive Him since He was continuing on to Jerusalem.

James and John (who were also known as the “Sons of Thunder,” Mark 3:17) asked Jesus if He wanted them “to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did” (verse 54).

Christ rebuked them and answered: “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”

Jesus Christ was interested in serving these people, not in vengeance and prideful displays of power. He displayed what is found in Ezekiel 33:11: “‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways!’”

James and John, to whom Jesus had given the nickname “sons of thunder (Mark 3:17), still had much to learn from Jesus’ example of gently helping these people come to repentance.

The Fruit Of The Spirit: Faithfulness!

Faithfulness is the seventh in the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 (New King James Version). Essentially, faithfulness to God is loyalty to Him and to His teachings, which should shape how we think and act.

What the Bible says about faith and faithfulness

“Faithfulness” is translated from the Greek word pistis. In the King James Version this word is translated “faith.” Pistis includes both meanings (faith and faithfulness), but in Galatians 5:22 it seems to carry more of the meaning “trustworthiness or reliability” (Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary note on Galatians 5:22).

The Bible provides a fundamental description of pistis in Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

We grow in faith as we use the power God gives us through His Spirit to obey Him and build a relationship with Him. Faith in God grows in us as it did in Abraham as we see that God will always do what He has promised (Romans 4:18-22). So, faithfulness would include being full of belief and confidence in God and all that God promises.

Hebrews 11, often called the Faith Chapter, goes on to say: “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (verse 3).

Faith is what keeps us from believing that we are all here on earth by accident. It assures us of our Creator’s existence and love.

Faith involves the way we live. Paul said we must “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Faithfulness includes loyalty. In Titus 1:9, toward the end of a list of qualifications for ministers, Paul says that an elder should be “holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.” “Holding fast the faithful word” means remaining loyal to what we have learned from the Word of God.

So the fruit of the Spirit of faithfulness includes trusting God and remaining loyal to Him and His doctrines.

Why does God want us to demonstrate faithfulness?

In Luke 18:8 Christ asked, “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” Looking at the state of faithfulness today is not very encouraging. The world has thousands of different versions of Christianity to choose from, all claiming faithfulness to God and His doctrine, but far too many have been willing to change biblical truth to what suits them. And, at the personal level, infidelity and unfaithfulness are rampant today.

God is faithful to His people, and He expects them to be faithful to Him. All of the fruit of the Spirit follow this pattern, and faith is no exception.

Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us, “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” God calls on us to make a promise to Him through baptism. Will we be faithful and true to Him as He is faithful to us?

So why does God want us to demonstrate faithfulness to Him? How else will He know that we trust Him and are truly committed to being a part of His family? James 2:17-20 clearly tells us: “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”

Our faithfulness greatly influences how we love God and love others, including whether or not we remain loyal to relationships, sound doctrine and God.

Examples of faithfulness to follow

Hebrews 11 lists Abraham and Sarah as examples of faithful people who did many things by faith. Abraham left his home, not knowing where he was going but depending on God. He dwelled in a foreign country with his wife and waited many years for promises from God. Sarah received strength to have a child after she was well past the childbearing age, holding onto the promise made to her by God. Abraham was even willing to obey God’s command to offer his only son as a sacrifice because he completely believed that God could raise him from the dead.

Abraham and Sarah’s examples of faithfulness are timeless in their demonstration of commitment, willingness to believe God and to act on their beliefs despite growing physical evidence to the contrary. They did have some difficulties with faith (see below), but they made God the priority, and He bountifully blessed them.

Abraham turned his back on everything that wasn’t approved by God and moved forward with only God’s promises guiding Him. Talk about faithfulness!

Examples to avoid

The story of Abraham and Sarah (found in Genesis 12 through 24) is often called a “journey of faith,” because their lives also provide some specific examples to avoid. There were times they both struggled with accepting what God had told them and with trusting that God would do what He said. (However, in time they turned back to the conviction that God not only was able to do what He had spoken and promised, but also that He would do it.)

For example, Abraham was deceptive on two occasions about Sarah being his sister, not having the faith to trust that God would protect him in those situations (Genesis 12:11-20; 20:2-13). Instead of believing that she and Abraham would have a son, Sarah insisted on using her maid Hagar to try to bear the son of promise (Genesis 16:1-15), leading to much conflict and heartbreak (especially when Isaac, the true promised son, came along). In fact, Sarah and Abraham both laughed when they heard from God that they would have a son (Genesis 17:17; 18:12)! Despite their overall faithfulness, they both had some hard lessons to learn about faith.

Many of the things God commands and tells us in the Bible truly don’t seem physically possible, making it hard for us to believe. Well, that may well be because they aren’t physically possible and require God’s intervention and help. Like Abraham and Sarah having a child in their old age! They had to wrestle with faithfulness, but in the end God was faithful, and they came to be counted faithful as well.

The Fruit Of The Spirit: Goodness

We get mixed messages today about what is “good.” Some people say that it is “good” for those who are having marriage problems to have an illicit affair to spice things up. Some people say that it is “good” to enjoy and role play any fantasy, no matter how depraved or unnatural, as long as you don’t actually do what you are fantasizing about.

Is this what God thinks is good? No!

Notice Psalm 33:4-5: “For the word of the LORD is right, and all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD” (emphasis added throughout).

God wants the earth to be full of His goodness. What He considers good is clearly spelled out in the Bible. However, since the creation of Adam and Eve, humanity under Satan’s influence has chosen to come up with its own definition of goodness.

Think about some of the other words associated with goodness in the Bible, such as truth, righteousness, justice and light. Ephesians 5:8-10 uses some of these synonyms: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.”

Most people decide what is right and wrong not based on what God has taught us, but on whatever mood, feeling or biased “research” they’ve experienced on the matter.

Psalm 52:1 tells us that “the goodness of God endures continually.” What is that goodness? It includes an absolute commitment to good over evil and right over wrong. The fruit of the Spirit of goodness mentioned in Galatians 5:22 also includes generously doing good to others.

Why does God want us to demonstrate goodness?

God is good, and He wants us to grow in the fruit of goodness so we can be like Him.

A phrase that is repeated several times in Psalm 107 reads: “Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” The rest of the psalm mentions many aspects of God’s goodness, such as He delivered His people from distress and afflictions brought on by their sins and He led them the right way (verses 6-8).

Our goodness should be something that other human beings can be thankful for, just as we are thankful for the amazing goodness God has shown to us.

What is the alternative? What is the opposite of goodness? What happens when we decide what is right or wrong based on the values of a world twisted by the devil who hates us?

John 8:44 tells us that Satan “was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

Do we really think the father of lies is going to tell the world what it really means to be “good”? Not likely. As an example, Satan lied to Adam and Eve, convincing them that they would benefit by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And to this day, the world has been influenced by the devil’s deceptions concerning what is good and what is evil.

God wants us to demonstrate His goodness based on His commandments, based on His character. Deuteronomy 6:24 reveals that “the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.”

God knows what is best for us, because He created “good.” We must continue in God’s goodness that He has shown toward us if we are to avoid being cut off from a coming kingdom defined by goodness (Romans 11:22).

Why does God want us to demonstrate goodness? Because it is good for us and good for those around us. We are to be a light showing what is truly moral—the beneficial commandments and righteousness of God.

Ultimately, God wants us to show goodness because He is good, and He wants us to be like Him—and to be His children forever (Romans 8:16-17)!

Examples of goodness to follow

Two kings of Judah are specifically mentioned as having “goodness.”

The first king—Hezekiah, whose story is found in 2 Chronicles 29 through 32—inherited the kingdom from a very wicked ruler: his father. As soon as he began to reign, Hezekiah cleansed the temple from all the neglect and contempt that had been shown to it, restoring the true worship of God. He also kept the Passover festival, another neglected commandment of God.

Then Hezekiah systematically got rid of all the horrific pagan influences in the land. He also stood up to the most powerful king at that time, Sennacherib of Assyria, who had mocked God and everything He had told His people.

“Good” King Josiah (whose story is found in 2 Chronicles 34 and 35) followed the same pattern as Hezekiah. He inherited the kingdom after two very wicked kings destroyed what Hezekiah had put in place. Josiah purged the land again of all the terrible pagan practices. He also found the Book of the Law and became determined to follow it closely. As with Hezekiah, he restored true temple worship and prepared a very memorable Passover.

The examples of these two kings show us that even if all the influences around us (even inside our own families) are not “good,” we can still show goodness by clinging to God’s standards.

An example to avoid

So what happened between the reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah? Why did Josiah basically have to redo everything Hezekiah had done?

Unfortunately, Hezekiah’s son Manasseh (whose story is found in 2 Chronicles 33) was not known for his goodness. Although Manasseh repented at the end of his life, for many years he did irreparable damage and evil in the land. He brought back all the disgusting pagan influences and practices to the land, including child sacrifice, sorcery, witchcraft and the occult. The other nations in the area thought these practices were normal and good, but God hated them.

Manasseh even went so far as to build a pagan altar in God’s temple! Manasseh’s son Amon also encouraged these evil practices when he became king.

These examples may seem extreme, but Manasseh was simply doing what everyone else around him was doing. However, by following others’ definitions of right and wrong, he was seducing Judah to do evil (verse 9), which is the opposite of God’s standard of goodness.

We must evaluate this world’s ideas of “good,” and then think about Isaiah 5:20: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness.”