While growing up, I often overlooked gentleness when I recited the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23. At that time, I did not understand why gentleness is considered a fruit of the Spirit, mostly because it seemed so similar to other fruits of the Spirit such as love and kindness. Although that did not make any sense back then, God has recently shown me the importance of gentleness. Over this past year, I have been feeling overwhelmed and stressed. I started feeling this way around April 2018, when projects, essays, and SAT tests began piling into my lap. The stress continued over the summer, and “summer break” did not really feel like a break. During that time, I started working on college applications, which was a lot more work than I had imagined it to be. Not only did I have to write multiple essays, but there was so much paperwork to fill out about my general information and extracurricular activities. During my free time, I was able to do fun and relaxing things, but thoughts about how far behind I was in the work that I needed to finish were always in the back of my mind. As my work load became heavier, I started to realize that the stress I had been feeling caused me to become more easily frustrated. I noticed that I was not as patient with others and that I had a shorter temper than usual. While I was trying to choose my one little word for 2019 during these past few weeks, God placed the word “gentleness” in my mind and He showed me that gentleness really is an important characteristic to have. I learned that gentleness can be applicable to many different areas of my life. So this new year, I want to start being more gentle in the way I speak, more gentle in the way that I respond to others, and more gentle in the way that I treat others. Below, I will also be sharing some verses that I want to live by starting 2019. (As I searched for a life verse to pick for this upcoming year, I found it very difficult to pick only one, so I picked multiple!)
James 1:19-20 says, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” Philippians 4:5 says, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.” Proverbs 15:18 says, “A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.” Proverbs 21:23 says, “Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.”
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