Be Gentle, Be Strong

Gentleness is, apparently, something that doesn't come easy to me. I was thinking about the fruit of gentleness and I wondered how I rate on the gentleness gauge. I don't normally think about it, really. So I asked God, "What does that mean to me?"

"For you," He said, "not so much with the sarcasm."

Hmm, got me there. I've carried sarcasm around since I was a little kid. I was always smaller than everyone else and I used sarcasm to torture my siblings. It always worked and I never got in trouble for it. In fact, my grandmother egged me on. She had a mean streak that recognized the same thing in me and encouraged it.

Sarcasm can be deadly. It may be right on, but if it causes pain, it's wrong. It's so easy to go for the laugh that the victim's feelings become irrelevant. I'd like to think that I've mellowed over the years and that my tongue is not as sharp as it used to be. But there's a reason that God brought it to my attention - I need to be more careful.

A gentle spirit doesn't hurt people. A gentle spirit wants to help people. Somehow, we've come to equate gentleness with weakness and that's just not appealing. But God loves it when we put on weakness, because then we rely on His strength. When we try to be all powerful, in charge of our lives, we tie His hands. It works so much better if we acknowledge that we really are weak. It's that counter intuitive thing that gentleness brings with it the strength of God. Kind like the cell phone commercial where the army of support follows the guy around.

I think I will have accomplished a lot if, at the end of my life, I am remembered as having a gentle spirit. There's only one way to make that happen. I can't try to "be gentle", I have to ask that this awesome fruit be part of my life. I have to want it from God and let Him make the changes in me that others would see. The simple things with God always hold enormous truth and I think that asking for gentleness opens doors in heaven that were unknown before.