Fruit of the Spirit Gentleness 5 Don't Throw the Coffee

The more I study the FRUIT of the Spirit, the more convinced I am they are in the right order, building one upon the other! Stacking our fruit basket per se. Longsuffering may be difficult, but at the end of the trial and victory, one positive attribute many times is the result – GENTLENESS. I love gentle individuals! My personality isn’t necessarily a gentle one. I’m so on the go, it’s often hard to slow down and share my “gentle” side! LOL

Years ago, Jim and I were in a miff – OK, it was probably initiated by me. I was holding a cup of warm (not hot) coffee in my hand. I was angry about something and tossed the coffee in his face. He went and took a shower, came out and responded by saying gently to me, “Now I remember why I don’t like coffee. It tastes awful!” Guilt must have been written all over my face because when I arrived at work, our assistant looked at me and said, “OK, what did you do to Jim!”

GENTLENESS is knowing when to be angry and when not to. There are times when anger is justified. However, we need to know how to react, what to say, keeping our attitude in tack. There are times anger is completely out of line.

Because of not having our own home at a certain time in our life, Jim and I would eat out in restaurants more than we should. One day a waitress said, “I hate Sundays! Christians get out of church and are so angry! They are awful to deal with.” How sad. Christians without gentle spirits. They don’t use good judgement on when it is acceptable to be angry or not. Remember what Ephesians 4:26 tells us?

Ephesians 4:26, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:”

My friend, a gentle spirit is exactly what our Lord and Savior has. Let us follow His example. Peter cut off a soldiers’ ear because he was angry they were taking Jesus. However, Jesus gently picked up the ear and put it back on. Wow! Talk about GENTLENESS of spirit! (John 18:10)

Let’s stop our unnecessary anger, stop yelling and being unChristlike. Choose to have a gentle spirit that flows out (not throwing a cup of coffee) but showering the Love of God shining forth because we choose wisdom in knowing the right time for anger!! I’m guessing GENTLENESS is a soft piece of fruit!