Tuesday, July 03, 2012

fruit of the spirit: gentleness.

gentle [jen-tl] -adjective
1. kindly; amiable: a gentle manner.
2. not sever, rough, or violent; mild: a gentle wind; a gentle tap on the shoulder.
3. moderate: gentle heat.
4. gradual: a gentle slope.


this is one of my favorite things to read about. something stirs inside when I read Philippeans 4:5 or Colossians 3:12. and oh, 1 Peter 3:4. when I read about it I feel better about who I am and I rest in who God has made me to be. because gentleness is okay. and when He decided to mold me into Ali Taylor, he knew what (& why) he was doing. a friend told me once that when she read that verse in 1 Peter she thought of me. such a wonderful thing to say (& funny, I could say the same for her). I do hope my life speaks that. I hesitate even writing those things though, because I don't want it to sound like, 'look at me and how gentle I am'. and I realize also, that in some situations it can be a fault. maybe it means I'm too sensitive, but I can only hope that practicing gentleness will help me in the long run.

and there is no law against gentleness. or any of the fruits, really. we are told so in the next part of that verse in Galatians.

I read an article the other day that struck a little nerve. it's a sensitive subject so I choose to not go into lots of detail but one of the lines started like this.. 'We still have pastors calling for the death of gay people..'

calling for their death? what will that accomplish? that hurt my heart. whether I agree with a lifestyle different than my own that I see as truth or not. there is a better way to express your thoughts. a better way of dealing with certain situations. how is it okay to wish people dead?

gentleness can do what force always fails to do. if you have time to read that, I encourage you to. it has a lot to do with being a mom, but I felt like that could be applied to all areas of life.

read more from the series:

3 comments:

Naptime Review said...

That picture is so precious... Newest GFC follower from Wiegand hop. Love for you to stop by and return the follow when you can ;)

www.thenaptimereview.com

Whitney @ The Sweetest Things said...

I just found you via casey leigh...thank you for the encouraging words! I am also a follower of Jesus and can relate with so many of the things you write about. I hate when pastors say things like that about the gay community...sure I don't agree with that lifestyle at all and do believe that the Bible is very clear in it being a sin, but I think they should be approached and treated with the love of Jesus. What better way to show them who HE is and what He's about??

Whitney

Unknown said...

completely agree with you. thank you for the kind words!