Thursday, August 29, 2013

Are You Known as a Gentle Person?

This is the second post in my series on Philippians 4:4-8. These verses contain some good thoughts on how to live. You can read the first post here.

"Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near." (Philippians 4:5)

In his letter to the Galatian church Paul tells us gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit - a result of the Holy Spirit in us. Here in Philippians, Paul is telling us that others should see our gentleness.

In our culture it can be tempting to hide any sort of gentleness. It's not see as anyway to get ahead or succeed in life.

Being gentle is a sign of caring for others and it should be evident in our lives as followers of Christ. Instead of hiding it, we need to allow it to show. We should be handling other people's emotions, thoughts, and feelings with caring and tenderness - with gentleness. That should be an evident marker of us all.

Paul also reminds us in this verse that the Lord is near. God is always with us. He is always going to be right there. We never have to wonder if He is, because He always is. We can count on that.

It is God being near that makes it possible for us to live the way the rest of the Bible tells us to live. If we had to do it on our own we would have a problem. But because God is near, we don't have to do it on our own and it is possible.

How are you doing at showing gentleness in how you deal with other people?
 
Do you live in the knowledge that God is always near and will never leave you?

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