Are we always hostile, rude, mean, selfish, impatient, and uncaring? No, but we all have the seeds of all such attitudes in our hearts ( Matthew 15:19 Jeremiah 17:9). What may be shocking to many of us is that we have and can act the same as these people. Hostile, rude, mean, selfish, impatient, uncaring, and worse ( Romans 1:29–31 2 Timothy 3:1–4 Galatians 5:19–21 1 Corinthians 6:9–11). What does the Bible say about dealing with difficult people?ĭifficult people are everywhere. We can only be gentle as the Holy Spirit develops spiritual fruit in our lives. As a result, we will also be gentle with others, recognizing that they are created in God's image ( Genesis 1:27) and loved by Him ( 2 Peter 3:9). A gentle heart will accept God's wisdom and yield to His discernment. Repentance is necessary for salvation, and we need to carry an attitude of repentance in a gentle spirit our entire lives. To "repent" in a biblical sense is to change one's mind and believe that God is right. Gentleness is the spirit and attitude behind repentance. Gentleness is an inward grace that easily submits our own strength of will to God's Lordship. In addition, to be gentle is to accept the hardships He allows in our lives, considering them helpful for our spiritual development. We must be "like a little child" to enter the Kingdom ( Mark 10:15). We need to accept His word "in humility" or "with meekness" (prautes) in order to be saved. James 1:21 expounds on the gentle nature we are to have toward God: "Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls." Sadly, our natural human nature is tainted by sin, it is filthy and wicked. If anything about us is offensive, it should be the message of the gospel itself, not the manner in which we deliver it. Rather, it means that we value the person we are sharing truth with and thus treat them as a person made in God's image. Gentleness is not weakness or lack of conviction. This does not mean that we aren't strong in our convictions or that we don't stand up for what we believe in. Instead, we share truth in a spirit of love ( Ephesians 4:13–16). We don't forcefully share truth or correction, browbeating others into accepting it. In our teaching approach, we should be respectful toward others. And we are to accept that God's actions toward ourselves and others are the right actions, even when human wisdom thinks otherwise. We are to teach God's point of view, not our own. We are to submit our strength, including the strength of our convictions, to God's wisdom. Galatians 6:1, 2 Timothy 2:25, and 1 Peter 3:15 all use gentleness to describe the way we are to correct or teach others. The gentleness in the New Testament is closely related to wisdom and spiritual growth. When we submit to God we will also be gentle with others. Prautes, the Greek word translated "gentleness" in Galatians 5:23, means "to submit one's strength in a posture of meekness." Prautes is translated as "gentleness," "consideration," "humility," and "meekness." One part of gentleness is to calmly accept God's judgment regarding a situation, even if that judgment results in personal hardship. Those who are gentle are humble and thankful toward God, having a peaceful mind and submitting wholly to His plan. Some dictionaries define gentleness in part as being "mild-mannered " we are polite and restrained in our behavior toward others. It involves having a humble heart and being kind toward others. But biblical gentleness is more than that. We often think of gentleness as tenderness or even softness. The fruit of the Spirit, listed in Galatians 5:22–23, is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In what way is gentleness a fruit of the Holy Spirit?
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