Gentleness

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."Galatians 5:22-23

How would you define "gentleness"?  Maybe something like overly kind...passive...mild? 

My church did a series a while back about the verse above, and one day focused only on "gentleness".  Using Isaiah 40:11, the message looked at how God is gentle using the example of a shepherd.  A shepherd guides, provides, protects, and disciplines...because a shepherd knows what is best for his sheep.  Our pastor defined gentleness as "Power under perfect control".  Take a minute...go into your Bible and read Isaiah 40:12-15.  Look at the awesome power that God has over everything.  Then go back to verse 11, and see the gentleness.

So if He is the shepherd, what is our response to God?  We follow Him, not blindly accepting, but out of trust.  "It's a decision to have a heart-attitude of meekness and humility towards God."  Maybe a better question, if gentleness is power under perfect control, would be to ask yourself where do you get your power??

For further reading, check out these verses:
1 Tim 6:11
1 Peter 3:15
Phil 4:5