The Strength of Gentleness

So at church service yesterday, all saints day, they were recognizing those “saints” whom have passed away this year from the congregation. While it was wonderful to hear the names called, including my fathers, I couldn’t help but notice how kind and gentle everyone was. All day long, I felt like I was being tapped on the shoulder and God was whispering in my ear, “Junior,I love the Be Nice, but be gentle too.” You see, gentleness, politeness and meekness are not weaknesses as the world sees them, but rather strengths exhibited by someone who chooses to be humble. I want to be more kind and gentle. Don’t you?I think we are all so busy and have grown so accustomed to raising our voices and dealing harshly with people thinking it is the only way to get a job done. The opposite of gentleness is harshness, anger or violence and this is the way the world rolls. But we don’t have to be this way. Just the other day, I was pretty frustrated with work and I thought the best way to handle the situation was to be harsh with the person I was dealing with. But in a weird way, I felt like God was telling me not to hit send on the email and instead try to “Be Nice”. Thankfully I did and it worked out wonderful and that person and I have a better relationship because of it. But it could have easily gone the other way had I not been asking God to help steer me in the way to handle it. Proverbs 15:1 nailed it when it said, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” Listen, so rather than trying to persuade a person with harsh or angry words, one ought to do it with gentleness, which can overturn the hardest, most stubborn of hearts. Might feel pretty good in our hearts too...Be Nice, Grace Wins!