Fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22-23 Gentleness

Gentleness and Dishpan Hands When you think of the word gentle, what kinds of words or images come to mind? Gentle is defined as amiable and tender, not harsh or severe; mild and soft. The imagery of the lamb stands out to me, but because of the effectiveness of advertising, I also immediately think of dish detergent.

The Greek word found in Galatians 5:22 can be defined as gentleness, but is more accurately defined as meekness. Meekness is most often understood as weakness in our culture. In our culture, which is highly focussed on power and exertion of control, meekness takes on a very negative connotation and becomes something very few people would aspire to. Biblically, both meekness and gentleness are defined as strength under submission, power under control.

Contrasting Gentleness and Self-Control The final two aspects of the fruit of the Spirit are related in a very interesting way. Gentleness is more about the control of the power available to us through the Holy Spirit, while self-control is more about the control of our sinful nature. Gentleness is about how we use the spiritual power gifted us through Jesus Christ, while self-control is about the restraint necessary to reign in the desires of the flesh.

God’s Power to Us Scripture is full of references to the power made available to us through God’s Spirit. “ … you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) “the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7) “whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12)

God’s Power to Us It is a mindblowing thought that the power by which Jesus did miraculous things is available to us, too. There is a strong natural tendency to use power for personal gain. The conditions for the misuse of the power of the Holy Spirit in us are readily at hand. It is possible that the power of God could be used for ignoble purposes.

“Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” (Acts 8:9-23)

Simon the magician desired the power of the Holy Spirit and would have misused it for personal gain. Another word you’ll find consistently connected to meekness is humility. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” (Philippians 2:3-10)

Jesus humbled himself to the will of God, becoming nothing – literally emptying himself - in taking on human flesh. He restrained his divine power, exhibiting “strength under submission” as he relinquished his rightful divine place and power in coming to earth as a child in a manger. It’s important we note, though, that Christ’s example of meekness and humility doesn’t end in Bethlehem – Philippians 2:8 continues: “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!” In the events of Easter, we see meekness clearly displayed.

“Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him “Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” (Matthew 26:50-56)

Christ had rightful access to all the power of God on that evening Christ had rightful access to all the power of God on that evening. He had rightful and legitimate power to call down 72,000 angels to rescue him, but chose not to. Instead, he chose to submit to the will of His Heavenly Father and practice restraint of His God-given power. In gentleness, Christ turned himself over to the authorities. Jesus practiced meekness and humility, holding back his divine power in facing the cross and was led like a lamb to the slaughter, all to fulfill God’s plan. Meekness is not weakness; it is a heart surrendered to God, a teachable spirit, and a gentle strength.

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11) The result of meekness is increased power and influence for the individual. Quite simply the purpose of meekness is to bring glory and honour and praise to God the Father. It is in embodying gentleness that God is revealed to the world around us.

Application We must break from the cultural understanding of gentleness as a “dish pan hands” kind of thing and latch on to the biblical understanding of the term, choosing to see strength in the choice to be meek To produce this fruit, it also means that we’ll have to explore how meekness applies to the circumstances we encounter in our everyday life. Meekness, or gentleness, is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit; it is something the Holy Spirit produces in us. We must pray that God produce this quality in us by His Spirit at an increasing rate.