Fruit of The Spirit Series: Gentleness

Hello! Am I the only one who canNOT wait until Christmas? Just me?? Anyways I put on in my first post in this series that I was looking for more guest posters and Ms. Kent emailed me and asked if she could be one! She has a name but I always refer to her in my head as "Ms. Kent" not sure why! Anyways LAURA and I talked about which fruit she would like and we settled on Gentleness for her. 

 I have always wanted this series to be truthful, and I wanted my guest posters to be real and talk about their struggles with the fruit that they chose. Because, frankly, life is not rainbows and lollipops. Being a Christian is hard. But we can look to each other for understanding, and encouragement. So this is why I am SO excited for Laura (Ms. Kent) to be sharing her heart with my amazing readers today! Please go check out her blog The Kent Happenings, then follows her on Bloglovin' and Like her Facebook Page for updates! 

But let it be the inward adorning and beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which [is not anxious or wrought up, but] is very precious in the sight of God.
1 Peter 3:4 (AMP)

I find it interesting that when we focus on a specific gift of the Spirit, we suddenly find ourselves in situation after situation that requires such a gift.  When Mary-Keith & I spoke about which gift I would write about, “Gentleness” jumped out at me. I knew I had some growing to do in this area, but since that day, I have been absolutely everything but gentle, and I’m fully aware of why I needed to write about it!!

What is gentleness? It’s the polar opposite of the way I’ve found myself behaving over the past week.

Gentleness is often translated as “meekness”, and while this doesn’t mean weakness, it does mean kind, loving, patient and plain-ole NICE. Gentleness doesn’t seek revenge for a wrong, it doesn’t chastise in hurtful ways, and it is slow to react when the full details of a situation aren’t had.  Gentleness is lovingly correcting a behavior, forgiving a wrong-doing, and it doesn’t assume the worst in someone.

We should always allow the spiritual gift of gentleness to work in our lives, but especially during the holidays. We never know what emotions the holidays will bring to people. Some may be struggling with the loss of a loved one, others are terribly homesick, some are struggling just to provide a single gift for their child, or maybe they anticipated spending this season with a new baby but their bodies rejected this possibility. We are to be the light of the world, and we can’t light the world with a mean, vindictive attitude. We must allow gentleness to take up residence in our lives – so much so that you can’t get it off the couch! And we need to ooze gentleness if our true desire is to show others the love of Christ.

Is what you’re about to say being spoken with gentleness?

Is your behavior in this situation shining light, or will it put someone else’s out?