3/19/2024
Elijah McSwain, Sr.
Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV — But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
The assemblage of virtues listed in Galatians 5:22-23, entails of the nature of God in connection with the nature of every believer. The fruit of the Spirit first reveals the divine attributes that God communicates unto mankind. Secondly, it reveals the characteristics that the elect of God should exhibit in the frame of our lives. Each component of the fruit of the Spirit flows harmoniously with one another. These virtues are not independent of each other but reflects the unison of all of the qualities in relation to the being of God as seen in us as representatives of God. We cannot truly exhibit the fruit of the Spirit without possessing all of the components that are associated with the Spirit of God.
There is no joy without love. There is no peace without joy. There is no longsuffering without peace. There is no kindness without longsuffering. There is no goodness without kindness. There is no faithfulness without goodness. There is no gentleness without faithfulness. There is no self-control without gentleness.
All of these characteristics are interwoven together for the spiritual formation, maturation, development, progression and the reflection of the believer for the purpose of resembling God. The Scofield Reference Bible implies that “Christian character is not mere moral or legal correctness, but the possession and manifestation of nine graces: love, joy, peace—character as an inward state; longsuffering, gentleness, goodness—character in expression toward man; faith, meekness, temperance—character in expression toward God. Taken together they present a moral portrait of Christ and may be taken as the apostle’s explanation of Gal. 2:20, “Not I, but Christ,” and as a definition of “fruit” in John 15:1–8. This character is possible because of the believer’s vital union to Christ (John 15:5; 1 Cor. 12:12, 13), and is wholly the fruit of the Spirit in those believers who are yielded to Him (Gal. 5:22, 23).” 1
As Christians yield to Christ, His divine nature will be visibly present and seen by others. In this blog, it is crucial to take a snapshot of the gentleness of God and the gentleness of the believer.
The Gentleness of God
The notion that all of the virtues mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 are part of the cluster of the fruit of the Spirit pinpoints that each one is a description of the Person of God. As we encounter who God is, one may be wondering how can God be gentle even in His authoritative position?
God is gentle because gentleness is a core element of who He is. While God is authoritative in His position, He elects to deal with mankind in a gentle manner.
God knows the frailty of mankind (Psalm 103:13-14), therefore, He has compassion and pity on us as seen through Him gently handling us according to His grace and mercy. Psalm 103:10-14 is informative that "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust." In His place of supremacy, He elects to care and interact with the human populace in a gentle manner despite our frailty in how we treat God through our disobedience.
Gentleness can be summed up as an exhibition and expression of when a person exercises patience as well as kindness despite injurious behavior being directed toward them.
Let’s be clear, we cannot harm God in a physically sense, but we can be injurious toward Him in a spiritual sense when we insult His authority, disregard His exalted position, disobey His commandments, rebel against Him, undermine His righteousness, take Him for granted, blaspheme against Him and many other things that we as a human race engage in to suppress and attempt to belittle the Person of God in our conduct as well as speech.
Our actions at times display harsh gestures and abrasiveness toward Him yet He remains gentle at times as a means to correct us of our undesired behavior. A prime example of being injurious toward God is found in Exodus 20:3 where it is stated “you shall have no other gods before Me.” Making idols out of material constructs, people, jobs, hobbies, education, and social economic status provokes the anger of God. Defaming the name of God is an injurious behavior among humanity. Defaming the name of God is to use His name irreverently and in vain as something common.
Exodus 20:7 NKJV — “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
During times when people engage in this type of activity or any other sin for that matter, God gently still seeks to draw us to Himself. He desires that we repent of our vile ways. When repentance is sought on our behalf as we approach God, He graciously forgives us of our sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). 1 John 1:9 underscores this truth by stating "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This is God acting in a gentle manner as opposed to allowing us to experience the full wrath of His anger toward sin.
Be mindful, our actions are not without some negative repercussions despite God's gentle attitude toward the frail. We still feel some of the effects of reaping some of the things that we have sown. We should be thankful that the full fury of God is not rewarded on our account, otherwise, it would not be conducive for our physical or spiritual well-being.
Further evidence of God’s gentleness is depicted in Isaiah. Isaiah 40:11 is written "He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young."
The Life Application Study Bible states that “the Bible often pictures God as a shepherd, gently caring for and guiding His flock. He is powerful (40:10), yet careful and gentle. He is described as a shepherd throughout Scripture (Psalm 23; John 10:11, 14; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 5:4). Note that the shepherd in this verse cares for the most defenseless members of His society: the young and those caring for them. This reinforces the prophetic theme that the truly powerful nation is not the one with a strong military but rather the one that relies on God’s caring strength as it places priority on caring for its people, especially the least of these. 2
God also declares His gentleness through Jesus. In Matthew 11:28-29, Jesus declared to His listening audience, “come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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." These are words spoken by Christ, the Son of God. For I am gentle and lowly speaks to the fact that this is the eminent of Christ’s character. The personification of Christ in this passage to His target audience shows forth that He was not unpleasant nor ungentle in His action, He was not inhumane in His dealings, or harsh like the pious Pharisees. Instead, He was meek, lowly, serene, and composed in His authoritative position as He engaged others. By this indication, we understand the nature of God as demonstrated through Jesus projects forth that He is gentle toward all men and that Christ became lowly in the mission that He was tasked to fulfill from His Father. This is crucial for us to understand on the basis of how it relates to our genetic DNA spiritually as to what we are called to be, meek and lowly, which will be discussed in greater detail later on in this blog.
Christ is gentle and meek to save. Christ is gentle and meek to forgive. Christ was gentle and meek to humble Himself to the cross. Christ was gentle and meek to make Himself of no reputation by becoming obedient unto death, the death of the cross.
He did this so that we could be delivered from our injurious state of mind and be liberated unto everlasting life.
One last brief mention of the gentleness of God can be found in a compelling passage such as James 3:17-18. These verses speak to the domain from which gentleness descends. James 3:17-18 speaks forth that "the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." The only reason why we know what gentleness looks like is because it is divine terminology that descends from the spiritual realm unto the physical realm. Thus, this emphasizes that gentleness derives from God and is of God.
The Gentleness of the Believer
Gentleness or meekness is part of the cluster of the fruit of the Spirit; therefore, it is a trait compromised within God Himself. This correlation is of vital significance to our spiritual makeup as we are fashioned after His very own image. The virtue of gentleness in the life of the believer stresses that we have continuity in God. Gentleness is a feature that is a distinguishing trait in the life of a Christian who is fully submissive to God.
Geoffrey Wilson acclaimed that “meekness is the mark of a man who has been mastered by God.” 3
J.C. Ryle would assert that “meekness is one of the brightest graces which can adorn the Christian character.” 4
Gentleness should be an identifying mark of every believer. When we face opposition as a result of people being injurious toward our character and reputation, God expects us to imitate Him by being gentle. Colossians 3:12-13 states "therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do." As believers, we must make sure that we are adorned and dressed in the spiritual attire as outlined by God.
The Spirit of God empowers us to put on the graces of God as we study His Word and apply it to our lives. This is vital for our progress of being molded into the image of the Son of God. Walking in accordance with the Spirit enables us to suppress the works of the flesh and in turn allows us to freely submit ourselves unto the authority of the Spirit of God. The ability to possess the mindset of Christ through the fruit of the Spirit is an effort to promote unity among believers. Ephesians 4:2-3 challenges every Christian to imitate the divine nature of God by operating in "lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
The unity of the Spirit is directly parallel to the fruit of the Spirit.
Our willingness to follow the Spirit will give way for gentleness to be visible in our mindset and actions. John Gill once wrote “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit…...that is, a spiritual union: there is a union between God and His people, and between Christ and His members, and between saints and saints, and the bond of each union is love; and that it is which knits and cements them together. The saints are united under one head, and are members of one and the same body, and should be of the same mind and judgment, and of one accord, heart, and affection: and this may be called "the unity of the Spirit"; because it is a union of spirits, of the spirits or souls of men; and that in spiritual affairs, is the spiritual exercises of the faith.” 5
Are we putting into practice that which God expects of us? Is the gentleness of God apparent in our lives? If not Philippians 4:5 voices to “let your gentleness be known to all men.” Like the other components of the fruit of the Spirit, gentleness should be a guiding principle that is easily seen by all of mankind. It should be seen toward those who treat us fairly and even by those who mistreat us. The MacArthur Study Bible puts it this way, "gentleness refers to contentment with and generosity toward others. It can also refer to mercy or leniency toward the faults and failures of others. It can even refer to patience in someone who submits to injustice or mistreatment without retaliating. Graciousness with humility encompasses all the above.” 6
Gentleness should be our daily pursuit and aim.
Generally speaking, we can analyze a verse with a specific context that is applicable for every Christian. 1 Timothy 6:11 is particularly specified for God’s man and spokesman but it can be broadly applied for every Christian. 1 Timothy 6:11 is documented "but you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness." We should flee from things that will taint our testimony and hinder the advancement of the kingdom of God. Our lives should be a reflection of God so let us represent Him well. Our orientation should be one of meekness and gentleness because God has abundantly blessed us through His gentle and meek nature. Therefore, let us graciously display the same sentiment of gentleness throughout the world.
References
The Scofield Reference Bible
Life Application Study Bible
John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
The MacArthur Study Bible