Gentleness

gen·tle

   [jen-tl]  Show IPA adjective, -tler, -tlest,verb, -tled, -tling.

adjective

1.

kindly; amiable: a gentle manner.

2.

not severe, rough, or violent; mild: a gentle wind; a gentle tapon the shoulder.

3.

moderate: gentle heat.

Every year I try to pick a character trait that I would like to work on in my life. This year I am going to try and be more gentle. I'm not exactly sure what that means yet...:-) I'm a pretty high-spirited girl. Very sanguine in nature. However, I know that this in an area that I would like to develop more throughout this year. I've been praying about it and asking the Lord to show me some specific ways that I can LEARN to be gentle in my dealings with ALL people in ALL circumstances. 

Here's a few verses that I'm going to meditate on this week: 

To speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.Titus 3:2 ESV / 81 helpful votes

Psalm 18:35 ESV / 52 helpful votes

You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.

2 Timothy 2:24-26 ESV / 45 helpful votes

And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

James 3:17 ESV / 42 helpful votes

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

Encouragement is oxygen to the soul....

Encouragement is oxygen to the soul. 

- George Matthew Adams

I've been reading this book mostly because I am 

vividly aware that death and life come in the form of words.

It is a fabulous read. 

I would recommend it for all woman seeking to use our words for good and not evil. 

"A word is dead when it is said, some say. 

I say it just begins to live that day."

- Emily Dickinson

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, 

who have been made in God's likeness. 

Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. 

My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 

Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 

My brothers and sisters, 

can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? 

Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water." 

James 3:9-12

God has given us incredible power in our sphere of influence, 

and it begins with the words we speak. 

- Sharon Janynes in The Power of a Woman's Words

A careless word may kindle strife;

A cruel word may wreck a life. 

A bitter word may hate instill;

A brutal word may smite and kill.

A gracious word may smooth the way;

A joyous word may light the day.

A timely word may lessen stress;

A loving word may heal and bless.

-Author Unknown

That's just a few snippets on the topic of the tongue. 

I decided to pick this particular book up after using an ugly tone of voice with my 

son last week. (See previous post.) :-)

I was actually on the chapter about how much of a blessing that we can be to 

those around us with our words when I checked my email and

was pleasantly surprised to see an email from a former teacher!

(Hi...:-)

The words that she said were such a blessing. 

So refreshing. 

Such a GIFT. 

She said that she still prays for my family by name after 12 years - priceless!

The gift of words to encourage others was right there in front of me. 

Have you encouraged someone today? 

Would you take a challenge with me? 

1. Say an encouraging word to each close family member every day!
2. Write an email, card, e-card, fb message, etc to someone that you no longer see                              but still value once per week.

Let's be a blessing with our words!

"The Bible has a lot to say about our mouths, 

our lips, our tongues, for our speech betrays us. 

What is down in the well will come up in the bucket."

- Vance Havner 

Interrupting

Psalm 141:3
Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.


I tend to interrupt. I don't mean to do it rudely. I just always have struggled in this area. It has been brought to my attention a few times in my lifetime and was again today. It's never easy to hear things that hurt. But I also want to grow. The funny thing is that in my family that I grew up in there are a LOT of girls and we all like to talk and tell stories and often talk over each other and it's just normal for us. I'm not saying it's right, it's simply what we do. I'm not justifying. Simply saying that when you grow up with certain acceptable behaviors in your family it is not always as noticeable to you as to others.


Sanguine personalities also tend to have this negative attribute. Again, the part that hurt when it was quite bluntly brought to my attention by a frustrated individual today is that I don't mean to devalue someone else's opinion. I'm just talking. I talk. I talk a lot. I talk more than I should. Although, I strive VERY hard to not allow gossip to be a part of that "talk". I just like to talk to people. I can go up to a stranger and talk and talk and talk. I love working in the church office because I get to talk with lots of people. 


Anyways, it was a humbling experience when I was approached about it because I was in no way meaning to be rude or interrupt. I was just talking about what they were talking about. This is hard because I want to justify my actions and say it's just my personality and that I don't mean anything by it. But I know that growing in the Lord does not allow for justification. Whether or not the other person was in the right or not in their approach is not the question, but rather how I respond to it. 


I apologized and then sent a note of apology. Although I didn't feel it was a great offense, I didn't want any door of bitterness to be up between us. 


Lord, help me take this reminder as one from You that I need to guard my mouth. It's not always just the words I say but WHEN I say them. You know this is an area that I work at but often slip up in. It is so important to me that my mouth is never an avenue for gossip that often I don't pay enough attention to other areas - like my tendency to interrupt. 

Psalm 141:3
Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.