Fruit of the Spirit: Gentleness

Intro

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Meekness shows us how a man may be angry and sin not; how he may be zealous and yet meek. -Thomas Watson

Exploring the Greek

Galatians 5:23 the word for gentleness is prautēs is the noun form, meaning “meekness” or “gentleness.”

Matthew 5:5 the word for meek is praeis is the adjective form of praus, meaning “meek, gentle, humble.”

Praeis is also the word the Greeks used to describe the Persian warhorse

In the Persian Empire, the king’s war horses were the finest in the world — massive, powerful, full of fire. But raw power was useless unless it was trained. A stallion had to learn to stop at the lightest touch, to charge only at the rider’s command, and to stand calm in the roar of battle. All that strength — but under perfect control. That’s the word the Bible uses for meekness. Not weakness. Not passivity. But power, fully surrendered to the Master’s hand.

Power Under Control

Something important to note in our discussion of meekness is personality is submitted not erased

Strong characteristics are a good thing when submitted, but would mean chaos and death if not submitted

So this high energy was not destroyed but directed and made productive, instead of being used aimlessly

A part of being gentle and meek is learning to submit your strength to God, and in doing so scriptures such as Proverbs 11:2 become evident in our lives

Proverbs 11:2 ESV

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

Think of these in context of the war horse, if that horse is prideful and trusting in itself it will be shamed in war because their are aspects going on beyond its comprehension

But if the horse is humble and trust in its rider it greatly benefits from the riders wisdom and will accomplish great things

Think of Peter cutting the soldiers ear off, that was not meek, it was raw uncontrolled power

Jesus showed meekness in picking up the ear and healing his enemy. Jesus saw the big picture and knew in the frame of war it was time for mercy not wrath

We are gentle to the enemy with strategy, the meekness we show them does not allow them to win the war but disarms them

Meekness removes the enemies foothold

Meekness allows us to walk through faithfully tough times necessary for accomplishing God’s purposes

This was just one of many examplexamples of Jesus’ meekness

Matthew 11:29 ESV

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Think of how Christ displayed meekness, we never saw him as weak

We must embrace that meekness by embracing John 3:30

John 3:30 ESV

He must increase, but I must decrease.”

What are some ways God has gifted you greatly?

Do you have a strong personality, like the type that when you enter a room, you don’t just enter you arrive?

Are you energetic?

Are you contemplative?

Are you organized?

None of these are bad things, and none of these things are things to be erased but submitted to God, to make you effective in war and not a destructive force to your own army

Dangers of not submitting:

Personality turns to pride, making your religion become more like that of the Pharisee mentioned in Luke 18:11

Energetic turns into confusing busy for anointed

Contemplative turns into anxiety

Organized turns into well planned spiritual failures

That is just four characteristics, think this morning on what are some of your defining characteristics and how have you submitted your character to God

Does your character make you more effective servant for the kingdom of God or a Pharisee like enemy of the kingdom?

Focus not Fear in the Face of Battle

A untrained warhorse is going to be fearful and easily distracted in a warsetting

Without the meekness a warhorse is not going to be gentle in this setting

This morning it is becoming evident gentleness is more about our character with God and how it impacts how we interact with one another

Focus comes from spending time with the Spirit allowing Him to teach you

Focus eliminates fear in battle

This world is full of things to be fearful of that causes us to:

Not be gentle with ourselves, often our fear makes us engage with self destructive behavior

Not be gentle with one another, our fear makes us get on the defensive with one another

Going back to the war analogy, if their is a horse with bronco tendencies in the warlinwar line, is the whole line going to be focused fully on the enemy? No. Because those beside are going to be doing damage control, while making sure they don’t get kicked. Then that is going to spread down the line because of the ones distracted the ones beside them will have to fill in the gap of divided attention. All this makes one another fearful someone is going to derail the war effort

And in this setting gentleness is going to decrease as tension grows among comrades

In war setting war is not won by compromise

Focus eliminates distraction

When we are not focused we are more likely to misstep

One of the most destructive characteristic I see in so many churches is in their fear of not reaching people they start to be like well we need to be more like such and such church

Pragmatism has no place in the church

Pragmatism in the church is the philosophy that ministry methods, preaching styles, or church practices should be judged by their visible effectiveness (attendance, emotional response, popularity) rather than by faithfulness to Scripture.

Where we are at does not call for the strategy of New Life, Gilbertown Baptist, Heritage, etc. Where we are at calls for the strategy of Hurricane

And let us not fall into the trap of numbers equals anointing and success

Think of the story of Gideon, was he called to sucessuccess with the larger numbers, no. He was called to success with he smaller number. The smaller number showed a submission to God that gave God the number.

Outro: Peace is Coming

Psalm 37:10–11 ESV

In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Going back to an earlier part of the fruit we discussed be patient, the wicked will come to an end

In impatience do not grow reckless but continue to walk in meekness

This does not mean we are pushovers, we walk in strength

In the meekness we have to our rider we show great strength and that we are a force to be reckoned with, that we are not centered on entertaining, but take a call to war serious

As we walk in meekness, submission to the Lord we know one day we will have eternal peace because we choose to make less of us and much of Him.

Submit your strength to the Spirit. Whatever God has wired into you — energy, boldness, intelligence, creativity — it will either serve His kingdom or serve your pride. Place it in His hands.

Practice meekness with others. In the home, in the church, in the workplace — gentleness means refusing to lash out, refusing to demand your own way, and instead letting the Spirit guide your responses.

Stay focused in the fight. Don’t get spooked by the noise of the world. Don’t look left and right comparing your church, your life, or your calling. Fix your eyes on Christ, your Rider.

Remember the promise of peace. The meek shall inherit the earth. One day, when the war is over, those who submitted their strength to Christ will find their eternal rest in His kingdom.