2 Timothy 2:24 "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient..."
Titus 3:2 "To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men"
James 3:17 "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hyprocrisy"
To be gentle means to be: generous, kind, patient, mild, moderate. We should be gentle as Christians - in our attitude, in how we approach others, how we confront various situations! I find it hard to think about this quality without thinking of the Lord Jesus. He was mild-mannered, kind and peaceful.
When we give others wisdom, we should be careful to do it in a gentle way. Yesterday while at the beauty salon getting my hair done I overheard a conversation between the beautician and a gentleman in there with his mother. I caught a statement from him "I don't like it when people are preachy with me". All of us, if we will humble ourselves, are probably due at times (more than we realize or want to realize) for some 'preachiness' --is that a word? Anyways today it is :-) BUT -- We have to be careful to confront people with the gentleness the Lord had. Our pastor shoots straight and doesn't run around the bush about issues so to speak but he is GENTLE and gains the attention of the listener through his gentleness! True wisdom is gentle. It is forbearing, NOT overbearing--you will get no where if you are overbearing except a 'tuning you out' from the other person and in the end lose a friend or your influence on that individual.
Are you more apt to give a listening ear if someone approaches you about an 'issue' in a gentle way? I am BUT on the other hand if someone is overbearing in getting their 'point' across, I'll have to be honest -- I find myself 'tuning them out'. Approach others with the gentleness the Lord has topped our lives with as a Christian.
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