Gentleness  

The colossal misunderstanding of our time is the assumption that insight will work with people who are unmotivated to change. Communication does not depend on syntax, or eloquence, or rhetoric, or articulation but on the emotional context in which the message is being heard. People can only hear you when they are moving toward you, and they are not likely to when your words are pursuing them. Even the choicest words lose their power when they are used to overpower.  Attitudes are the real figures of speech.  Edwin H. Friedman

Gentleness means recognizing that the world around us is fragile, especially other people. It is recognizing our own capacity to do harm and choosing instead to be tender, soft-spoken, soft-hearted, and careful. When we are gentle we touch the world in ways that protect and preserve it.  Wisdom Commons

I was thinking about the fruit of the Spirit and what it means to bear good fruit.  It made me think about the quince tree in my yard.  The interesting thing about my quince tree is that it produces a lot of fruit. 

My quince tree is rather large and it stands way above my fence.  My neighbor once commented to my husband that we had the most beautiful apple tree with the largest apples he had ever seen.  He wanted to walk over and pick a few.  The thing is a quince fruit looks like giant green apples. 

The problem with the fruit of a quince is that it is hard as a rock, weighs about as much as a brick and is impossible to cut with anything but a chainsaw.  Even the animals that climb our tree to try and eat it eventually give up.  The reason I know this is because when I pick them there will be teeth marks in the fruit but not much progress so I guess they eventually give up trying to eat it.  Also, when they fall from the tree they leave a dent in the ground.  I often pick them early so they don’t fall on my dog or my head when I am mowing. The quince looks great from the outside but is hard as rock on the inside.

This made me think of gentleness.  Gentleness means having a soft heart, one that cherishes others and treats others with kindness.  When Christians become gentle we actively seek to make others feel at ease in our presence.  It means we allow others to express their feelings and we are sensitive to their opinions and ideas.  This means we don’t try to make others feel guilty and we don’t break the hurting Christian.  We also don’t snuff out the spark in the immature Christian. 

Gentleness also respects the personal dignity of the other person.  It means we are sensitive to the reactions of others to our words.  There are times when it may be necessary for a Christian to wound with words, but it is always followed by words of encouragement.

I admit I have not always been a gentle Christian.  I have reacted badly in situations and interactions with others without gentleness.  This should be one of the spiritual traits that I pursue daily and it should be high on my list of priorities.  The thing is I will need God and the Holy Spirit to successfully produce this fruit in my life. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to be a gentle Christian, not only with other Christians but also with those who do not know You.  I pray that You will bring to my mind gentleness in my interactions with others so that they may see You in the things I say and do.                 

Scripture:   If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 1 Timothy 6:3-5 & 11