Fruit of the spirit #5 Gentleness
TODAY WE’RE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT the 5TH FRUIT OF the SPIRIT and THAT IS GENTLENESS. IF YOU WE’RE TO LOOK UP THIS WORD IN The Strong’s CONCORDANCE, IT WOULD TELL YOU THAT THIS WORD MEANS, ‘GENTLENESS’, OR ‘KINDNESS’, & SOME TRANSLATIONS WORD IT THAT WAY.
I) KINDNESS and GENTLENESS ARE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. LUK 6:35
A) WE THINK OF GOD AS ALMIGHTY and HE IS, BUT WE ALSO THINK OF HIM AS SHEPHERD. The ONE WHO GENTLY LEADS HIS SHEEP, CARES FOR HIS SHEEP, & LOVES HIS SHEEP.
1) PSA 18:35.
(a) THIS GENTLENESS OF The LORD NOT ONLY MADE DAVID GREAT, BUT IT ALSO LED HIM TO WRITE ONE OF The MOST LOVED PSALMS. (PSA. 23) “The LORD IS MY SHEPHERD.”
2) PROBABLY ONE OF the BEST SCRIPTURES TO DESCRIBE the GENTLENESS OF the LORD IS FOUND IN ISAIAH.
(a) ISA 40:10‑12.
(b) (V 11) TALKS ABOUT HIS GENTLENESS, BUT the V BEFORE and AFTER TALK ABOUT the STRENGTH & POWER OF ALMIGHTY.
3) 2COR 10:1.
(a) THAT V TELLS US THAT The LORD J.C. IS GENTLE, BUT IN (COL 1:16) The SAME PAUL WROTE OF JESUS, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether {they be} thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”
(b) YOU CAN SEE the GENTLENESS OF the LORD WHEN HE WAS DEALING WITH the SICK, The POOR, The CHILDREN, and EVEN the FALLEN.
B) MAR 5:35‑43,
1) THIS SAME JESUS WHO CREATED the HEAVENS and The EARTH, WENT TO THIS LITTLE GIRL, TOOK HER BY the HAND and SAID “ARISE”. AFTER SHE AROSE, HE TOLD the PARENTS TO FEED HER.
2) THAT’S AMAZING THAT SOMEONE WITH A GREAT MINISTRY LIKE JESUS’ MINISTRY WOULD TAKE TIME OUT FOR 1 LITTLE GIRL.
3) I’M IMPRESSED WITH The BIGGER NAME MINISTRIES WHO COME TO The SMALLER CHURCHES. GETTING BACK TO T POINT...
II) WE ALL NEED GENTLENESS.
A) 1THES 2:7.
1) This is a reference to how a nursing mother is gentle to her child.
(a) In the same way we need to portray this gentleness and so much more to those that are new in Christ.
2) The mother has to nourish herself so that she can produce milk; in the same way we need to nourish ourselves with the Word of God so that we have something to give.
(a) A nursing mother has to be cautious about what kind of foods she eats, because that food will be passed on to the newborn baby. Certain foods can cause the baby to get sick to their stomach or produce gas.
(i) In the same way you when I need to eat the right food so that we can minister life. That right food is the Word of God and we need to stay away from the things that can bring harm.
(ii) Sometimes you need to stay away from things that may not even be sin for you, but when a newborn babe in Christ sees it that can cause them to stumble.
B) WE NEED TO BE GENTLE WITH NEW CHRISTIANS. PETER DESCRIBES THEM IN (1PET 2:2) AS ‘NEWBORN BABES’
C) OLDER BELIEVERS SOMETIMES FORGET THAT THEY SET STANDARDS FOR the new born babes, THAT ONLY A MORE MATURE CHRISTIAN can DO.
1) SOMETIMES THESE STANDARDS CAN BE HARMFUL. FOR INSTANCE A CHRISTIAN WHO IS OLDER IN the LORD MIGHT TELL A NEWBORN BABE TO ‘JUST STAND IN FAITH’.
(a) THAT NEW CHRISTIAN DOESN’T HAVE the WORD IN HIS HEART YET TO STAND IN FAITH, BUT HE THINKS THAT’S WHAT HE HAS TO. BUT BECAUSE HE DOESN’T HAVE FAITH YET, HE FALLS FLAT ON HIS FACE, and FALLS AWAY FROM The LORD.
2) WE NEED A FEW MORE Elisha’s TO TELL the Naaman's TO ‘GO IN PEACE’ (2KINGS 5:19) INSTEAD OF LOADING THEM DOWN WITH HEAVY BURDENS.
(a) MANY TIMES WE JUST HAVE TO LET THEM GROW IN the LORD.
(b) IT IS WISDOM TO BE GENTLE.
(i) JAMES 3:17.
(c) The WISDOM OF GOD SAYS BE GENTLE.
III) (COL 3:12) IN The NIV SAYS, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
A) THIS IS the SAME WITH ALL the FRUITS OF the SPIRIT; WE NEED TO PUT ON LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, and GENTLENESS.
B) THEY’VE ALREADY BEEN GIVEN TO US IN OUR HEARTS, BUT IT’S UP TO US TO BRING THESE THINGS TO the SURFACE.
1) PAUL SAID IN (EPH 4:32) “And be ye kind one to another,”
2) And IN (2TIM 2:24) PAUL SAID, “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all {men},”