Oh. My. I thought this whole Fruitful Thursday thing would get easier...but next up is gentleness. Definitely not my forte. I can be loud. And harsh. Growing up, I was the mouthy one in the family...sometimes I still am.It's not that I don't want to be gentle, I do. When I think of the woman I want to be the image of Audrey Hepburn comes to mind. Quiet, elegant, soft spoken, graceful, regal, sophisticated, gentle.
That's so not who I am. Yet. Each year I get a little closer. Everyday I have little internal battles to quell my
Impulsiveness
Temper
Judgement
Pride
Competitiveness
All of these thwart my attempts at gentleness - at being the wife, mother and woman I want to be. So I've decided to adopt a mantra for those times when I struggle with gentleness.
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ~ Philippians 4:5
Do you have a mantra or favorite verse to remind you to be gentle? I need all the help I can get.
I struggle in this area, too. I just have to remind myself to be gentle, to teach gently, and to speak gently. The downfall is remembering to do it.
ReplyDeletebeing gentle is hard when it's not our nature. I can be gentle outside of the home (not always) but at home where I'm comfy, not so much!
ReplyDeleteA gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Prov 15:1
Blessings,
Mel
Please feel free to stop by: Trailing After God
me too...i can use all the help i can get that is :)
ReplyDeleteThis could have been written by me :(
ReplyDeleteI would love to be all of what you said above about Audrey Hepburn, but..... I'm not.
I long to be gentle, and yet God has loved me. That never ceases to amaze me. And my husband loves me - and he's all the things I'm not. And his love never ceases to amaze me.
And so we loud-mouths battle on..... wishing we were something else, but thankful that we seem to be loved despite it all.
I can imagine your battle! I always thought it would be my biggest struggle to control my temper when having kids. I never got them eventually but I also noticed that it gets better by the years. I hardly ever loose it anymore the way I used to do. So I guess the older we get, the more we learn? I definitely hope so!!
ReplyDeleteI do think it's human though, not being the perfect gentleness all the time. We end up in so many difficult situations and not every person we meet is as gentle either so it's tempting to fall in those 'traps'. So don't worry too much or be too hard on yourself!!
I'm quiet by nature, but that doesn't make me gentle. It's a quiet and gentle spirit that is precious to God. My outside appearance may be quiet while my inside spirit is in an uproar. Since gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit, I've found over the years that regularly listening to our Lord through His Word and pouring out my heart to Him in prayer help to create a quieter, gentler spirit in me. All praise to Him!
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