Be Gentle - The Wesleyan Church

Let your gentleness be evident to all. (Phil. 4:5)

I love babies in all forms: human babies, puppies, kittens, calves, you name it. Even better, is babies with babies. A toddler meeting a newborn sibling or a baby cuddling with a new puppy turns my heart into a puddle. It is cuteness overload. In scenarios like this, a parent will often repeat, “Be gentle.” We know that there is something precious involved that requires extra care.

In this letter to the Philippians, Paul urged the people not just to be gentle with others, but to let that gentleness be obvious to everyone around them. The fruit of gentleness was an expectation that Paul had of the believers, and he wanted to remind them of the importance of this attribute.

I’m afraid that in our world today, gentleness is not a word that many would use to describe followers of Jesus. We’ve forgotten that people still need us to “be gentle” with them; they are drawn to gentleness. As the writer of Proverbs reminds us, it is a “gentle answer [that] turns away wrath” (Prov. 15:1). This in no way means we compromise our beliefs, but it may mean that we need to reevaluate our approach. Many of us would agree that there is enough anger and harshness around us. What impact would it make if we were to be people whose gentleness was evident to all?

Let your gentleness be evident.

Deborah Rhodes is the colead pastor of Parkside Church in Greenville, South Carolina. She is passionate about studying and teaching God’s Word.