The Fruit of the Spirit is GENTLENESS.
Each new day of work nowadays almost feels unbearable! For some of us, we know heading into our workday the meetings and interactions we will be having in which we will be yelled at. We are filled with foreboding dread each morning as we brace for the verbal and emotional lashing the day’s interactions will hold.
For some of us, we do not know exactly who might yell at us, but most definitely we will be yelled at … multiple times over the course of our workday. We are filled with foreboding dread each morning as we brace for the verbal and emotional lashing the day’s interactions will hold.
Add to that the fact that we are yelled at on our way driving to work, and/or on our way driving home from work as well.
Our background photo for today is the sun rising over downtown Seattle. This early morning sunrise photo was preceded by a 45-minute bus commute on a rushing I-5, followed by a 20-minute walk from the bus stop down to the office building. This 20-minute walk led through a calm empty Pike Place Market, where vendors were just beginning to arrive and set up their stalls for the day. The office buildings of downtown Seattle were silent and still, as employees had not yet shown up for work yet. All was calm in the early morning hours, as the sun gently painted the sky brilliant shades of color behind Mt. Rainier.
GENTLENESS is the topic we will be pondering over the course of this next week. The GENTLENESS of the sunrise over a new workday in downtown Seattle stands in stark contrast to the frantic, hectic commute of thousands of people … leading into their frantic, hectic workday … filled with problems, crises, disasters, conflict, tension!!
Our daily verse today states: “A GENTLE answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1) We may not have any control over whether we have to commute in nasty rush-hour traffic. We may not have any control over whether we are yelled at throughout the course of our workday.
But we do have control over how we respond.
It hurts to be yelled at. It is demoralizing to be yelled at. It causes tremendous anxiety to know we are going to be yelled at … daily.
This is why we need the Holy Spirit!! We need the Holy Spirit to cover and protect our hearts with God’s PEACE. We need the Holy Spirit to cover and protect our minds with that which is GOOD, RIGHT, and TRUE. And we need the Holy Spirit to guide our actions … and reactions … with GENTLENESS!
- Only the Holy Spirit can calm our raging emotions when we are yelled at.
- Only the Holy Spirit can give us the strength to withstand the lashing.
- Only the Holy Spirit can give us a GENTLE answer in response to being yelled at.
- Only the Holy Spirit can give us a GENTLE response in the face of aggression.
The Fruit of the Spirit is GENTLENESS.
