FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – GENTLENESS -- MEEKNESS
I Thessalonians 2: 6b-12
This morning were looking at the fruit of the spirit – GENTLENESS
I was reading about a little girl who was asked to write an essay on "birth"
She went home and asked her mother how she had been born.
Her mother, was busy at the time, said
’the stork brought you darling, and left you on the doorstep.’
Continuing her research she asked her dad how he’d been born.
Being in the middle of something and a little embarrassed said:
I was found at the bottom of the garden, where the fairies brought me.’
Then the girl went and asked her grandmother how she had arrived.
Her grandmother being of the old school, and the child not being old enough to know said: “I was picked from a gooseberry bush”.
With this information the girl wrote her essay. When the teacher asked her
later to read it in front of the class, she stood up and began,
"There has not been a natural birth in our family for three generations..."
Traditional humor as told by Rev. Richard J. Fairchild
Gentleness is often confused with meekness and
Meekness is translated to weakness.
Webster defines Gentleness as 1. being Considerate, kindly and tender.
2. Not harsh or severe; like a gentle scolding; a gentle tapping at the window.
The Greek word “Praos” was defined as “power under control.”humble, teachable.
The Greeks always had a picture with their definition of words.
For gentleness it was a wild horse tamed and brought under control.
Today we might have a picture of Water that’s under control
rushing through a hydroelectric turbines, generating electricity to light a city.
Or we might show a disease under control
That can produce vaccines & save thousands of lives.
Don’t watch TV if you want to pick up some gentleness.
Our Sitcoms and movies
Are full of people screaming at
Cussing out,
Beating up and
Punching out.
Threatening people to “make my day.”
There is little or no example of gentleness.
Gentleness as a fruit of the Spirit:
Is first of all
I. GENTLENESS IS STRENGTH UNDER CONTROL.
And the servant of the Lord must not strive;
but be GENTLE unto all men..."
2 Timothy 2:24
Not long ago I slipped through the toy section of one of our stores in town only to see a young mother and a small child. I knew they were there before I saw them because I could hear the child three isles away. He wanted his mother to buy him something. She said no. And off he went into a tantrum, lying on the flood kicking his feet and screaming.
She attempted to hand him first one toy and then the next.
But he kept saying no, no.
And so on went the game.
He didn’t know what he wanted.
He just knew he wanted something.
And Had he been my child ….he would have gotten that something.
Until we know who we are.
We won’t ever be able to control what we are.
We don’t think of Mike Tyson as a gentle person.
He goes into the boxing ring not knowing what he wants.
So changes the rules to include biting ears.
When we think of a gentle person.
We might think of Lincoln, Gandhi, Einstiein
And we Christian definitely think of Jesus .
They were not men of timid natures
But men who recognizing their weakness
Remembered their destinies and acted accordingly.
This is not an adolescent strength.
It is the result of a mature man or woman.
It is the vertical beam of the cross
Connecting us to the controlling power of God
That set us free from any kind of reacting the world may demand of us.
Leaving us in complete control of our responsibility to life.
Matthew 5:5 God blesses those who are gentle and lowly, for the whole earth will belong to them.
Gentleness is not something we believe.
It is a lifestyle we live.
I. GENTLENESS IS STRENGTH UNDER CONTROL
II. GENTLENESS IS A RELATIONSHIP IN CHECK.
I Thessalonians 2: 6 As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, 7but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.
Just as Gentleness in strength under control –like the vertical beam of the cross
So Gentleness is a relationship in check –like the horizontal beam of the cross.
This deals with our relationship to others.
I Thessalonians 2: 8 “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”
We all know what its like to meet VIP’s Very important people.
But do you know any VDPs, "Very Draining People?"
They’re the kind who say things that set you on edge,
And they enjoy doing it?
They come into your home & say,
"Where did you find that wall-paper?"
And it’s obvious they’re not asking because they want to go out & buy some.
They’re the kind who come right out & say:
"Ooh, how much weight have you gained, dear?"
They’re all around us! And why are they like that?
You’ve heard their excuses:
"It’s not my fault. That’s just the way I am. It’s in my genes. I inherited it from my mother or my father. That’s the way they were, too."
But does that make it right?
At times don’t you just want to shake people & ask them,
"What about God? What about the Holy Spirit?
Did you miss the personality transplant when you asked Christ into your life?
Galatians 5:22 "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control."
Gentleness as the fruit of the spirit help us to see others from Gods’ perspective.
It keeps things from being personal.
It keep in check our retorts or response.
We know how our old nature would like to react.
But the fruit of gentleness now control our new nature.
Like when your mother in law show up for a visit just when
You have moved into a different home.
You just getting things set up.
You feel you have a good start in decorating.
But after looking around the whole house says:
This is probably the ugliest decorated room in the entire house.
You should do something about it!"
"You says: “Yes mam, "I’ll have those mirrors removed right away."
Friends we live in a war zone.
Look around and you can see the mangled lives
People personalities are like time bombs.
Most time because they have made wrong choices.
But the suffering is just as real.
Maybe it is a man whose made a wrong choice in business,
& now his integrity is suspect, & he’s about to lose his job.
Maybe it is someone who has made wrong moral decisions.
And finds himself infected with a sexually transmitted disease,
& his marriage has been destroyed.
Maybe it is a woman who decided to abort her child,
& now she must deal with the guilt.
Maybe it is a young man who made wrong sexual choices,
& is now caught in the trap of homosexuality.
We could go on and on.
But God is saying—the fruit of the spirit – Gentleness
Makes us act differently toward others.
"Brethren, if any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin, you who are spiritual should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also." Galatians 6:1
God says to us:
"When you see people who are caught in sin
like the woman at the well,
like the woman caught in the act of adultery,
or the thief and embezzler Zacchaeus"
"When you see people like that...
Church, be gentle!
Be careful. Their lives are so fragile.
They could be easily broken.
But they can also be restored.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
And all the king’s horses & all the king’s men,
couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again."
That little nursery rhyme was originally written about people,
broken people, people who fell off the wall, & people who found their lives smashed. And all the king’s horses & all the king’s men could not put them back together again.
But God can.
God said: Because they are mine. I created them, & I want them back.
More than anything else, I want them back."
Will you allow the spirit of Gentleness in your life to forgive and guide that
One to come back home to God.
That is the miracle of the new birth.
That the power of the fruit of the spirit.
Even in a world full of hostility.
Gentleness can keep our relationship in check.
"Let all men know and perceive and recognize your unselfishness (your considerateness, your forbearing spirit)." Philippians 4:5
I. GENTLENESS IS STRENGTH UNDER CONTROL
II. GENTLENESS IS A RELATIONSHIP IN CHECK.
III. GENTLENESS IS A TONGUE UNDER RESTRAINT.
WORDS UNDER CONTROL
James 1: 26 “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”
The Greek word for gentleness is a Wild horse tamed.
James says that about the tongue.
“If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into he mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal…. But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison.” James 3: 2-3, 8
Only the Holy Spirit can gentle the tongue.
Has your tongue been gentled by the holy Spirit?
Many TEENAGER have difficulty with power under control.
They are usually just emotional time bombs ticking away until something occurs and there is a volcanic eruption of emotions and this volley of words—uncontrolled words,
Ask them why their feeling that way
“I don’t know ……..”
Because of adolescence or puberty.
They are out of control.
If the parent hasn’t grown up emotionally
Then we have two teenager.
One 35 an the other 16 in the same house.
And that doesn’t work.
Were not born with gentleness.
We must grow in it as a gift from the Holy Spirit.
“What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip,
or in love and with a gentle spirit? I Corinthians 4:21
Did you know that the fig tree its branches, stems, roots and leaves are so bitter no one can eat them. You might say there is a tree out of control.
But the fig tree produces the most sweet and pleasant and nutritious a fruit of any tree.
Controlling our TONGUE in its sinful evil nature
Is only accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Were all vulnerable.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could find other things as easily as we find fault.
In the day of the Southern Confederacy, General Robert E. Lee was severely criticized by General Whiting. It might have been expected that Lee would in time, get even with WHITING. One day President Jefferson Davis asked General Lee what he thought of General Whiting. Without hesitation Lee commended Whiting in high terms and called him one of the ablest men in the confederate army. An officer present spoke up and suggest that Lee must not know what unkind things Whiting had been saying about him. Lee answered. “I understood that the president desired to know my opinion of Whiting, not Whiting’s opinion of me.”
What about you?
Do you have that spirit of Gentleness
That enables you to live and speak
In spite of the setback and circumstances of your life.
Have you allowed God to gentle your tongue? Your heart?
When the world came down on Jesus.
When they ‘misused an abused him.
What kept him from destroying the earth?
It was his gentle spirit.
Strength under control.
He could have called ten thousand angels
To destroy the world and set him free.
He could have called ten thousand angels.
But he died alone for you and me.
That is gentle Jesus who said;
“Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened…for I am Gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. …Matthew 11: 28-29
