Gentleness Avoids These Things

There are three common tendencies of the flesh that oppose the fruit of gentleness produced by the Holy Spirit. Most often, these tendencies surface when tensions arise either during the process of discussing Scripture with others, or during the process of defending the gospel to those who oppose it (even if by our standard of "oppose").

As followers of Christ we should aim to display the gentleness of Christ in all circumstances. But I want to share three circumstances that a Christian might most be most tempted to neglect the Spirit of gentleness as seen in Christ. I will do this by sharing what gentleness is not.

1-GENTLENESS is NOT: Using the truth of God as a harmful weapon to inflict unrighteous judgement.

Too many times I have seen the misuses of passages like Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to the dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart," as an excuse to weaponize scripture in a divisie way in order to cast unrighteous judgement onto an image bearer of Christ. This tendency is most often rooted in the love of arguing, the love of being right, and the love of puffing one's self up according ot personal knowledge all while neglecting to nurture the image of God in the other person.

So what does this passage actually mean?  Well, that God's Word is still actively piercing to the core of people who encounter His Truth. His Word continues, even today, to expose the true intentions, heart, and motives of those who encounter it's Light. 

When Christ dealt with those weaker than Himself in terms of knowledge, he only condemned those who approached Him or others in self-righteous arrogance. But Scripture says this of such tendencies:

"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" (1 Corinthians 8:1).

"God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble" (James 4:6).

2-GENTLENESS is NOT: Retaliating with harshness when others persecute or oppose you.

By nature, when we are falsely (or maybe even rightfully accused) of something, our instinct is to defend ourselves. At times, this spirit of defense largely overshadows the Spirit of gentleness and instead, cultivates harsh words, impulsive responses, or even intentional retaliation.

King Solomon, known to be the wisest man in history due to receiving divine wisdom from God,  shared that "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" (Proverbs 15:1). When we engage with our enemies, persecutors, or opposers on the same level of harshness, all we are doing is fanning into flame the desire to perpetuate harshness. But when we respond in divine gentleness, remaining calm and anchored in truth with full confidence in the authority of God, Scripture teaches that such a gentle response "will heap burning coals on {their} head" (Romans 12:20). In other words, by responding to the harshness of others with the gentleness of Christ, will hopefully lead them to repentance on their shameful attacks.

3-GENTLENESS is NOT: Demanding our way through control of how others live or believe. 

The third and final tendency that I want to highlight, comes through one's own need to try and control the behavior, lifestyle, or belief of those around them. This tendency often leads through shame, guilt, fear, manipulation, or even deception--all in efforts to try and coerce a person to do, think, believe, or act in a way that the accuser feels is correct.

But this tendency neglects the gentleness of Christ in that it fails to nurture a person's faith by encouragement. This tendency neglects to highlight the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and instead, reduces internal change to forced external behavior modification by sheer pressure.

Scripture teaches us that "if someone is caught in a sin", those "who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently" (Galatians 6:1). Not harshly. Not forcefully. Not through manipulative fear tactics. Not by placing overhwleming shame onto the person.

Next week we will wrap up our time studying the fruit of the Spirit of gentleness by discussing two main benefits of demonstrating the gentleness of Jesus to those around us--both within the church community and also within the world.