Gentleness

You can walk hand-in-hand without seeing eye-to-eye.

Let your gentleness be evident to all.
— Philippians 4:5

If you want to be liked (and who doesn't?) it helps to be likeable. One of the most likeable qualities a minister can possess is gentleness. To be gentle means to be understanding, not demanding.

Interestingly enough, only two people in the Bible were referred to as being gentle — Jesus and Moses.

Proverbs 4:7 says, "Though it cost all you have, get understanding." Understanding works everywhere — at home, at the office, in a board meeting, even in traffic. God puts up with a lot from us, probably because He understands us. And if God can tolerate our inconsistencies and shortcomings, we must learn to understand one another. This is gentleness.

"Gentleness" is sometimes translated "meekness." We mistakenly tend to equate "meekness" with "weakness." Like the domineering wife who said to her husband, "What are you, man or mouse? Go ahead, squeak up!" The meek, the gentle, whose strength is controlled by the Holy Spirit, are God's kind of people. Jesus said in the Beatitudes, "They will inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5).

If you want to live a lonely, unfulfilling life: Never admit you are wrong. Know it all. Always talk, never listen.

It is true, you will never see eye-to-eye with everybody all the time. But gentleness, which is the fruit of the Spirit, can help you walk hand-in-hand.

Taken from The Minister's Little Devotional Book.
Copyright © 1997 by H.B. London Jr. and Stan Toler.
Used by permission of RiverOak Publishing, Tulsa, Okla.
All rights reserved.