Gentle in Spirit

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7 NASB1995)

In good times or in bad times, we are to rejoice in the Lord always. We are to give thanks to the Lord in all things and give him praise, honor, and glory. For what good is it if we grumble and complain over our circumstances? It serves no good purpose, and it only brings us and other people down. For God never promised us an easy life, did he? No! He promised us that life would be hard, and that we would be hated and persecuted as Jesus was hated and persecuted, if our lives are surrendered to doing God’s will.

And what does a “gentle spirit” look like? It should look like Jesus Christ in character, in word, and in deed. And, although Jesus was meek, he was not weak. He did not compromise truth and righteousness so that other people would like him, and so they would approve of him. He was strong against lies and liars, i.e. those who spoke falsely and who were hypocritical in their speaking and in their actions. And he spoke strongly against turning the temple of God into a marketplace, i.e. a place of business. And he was right!

So, being gentle in spirit is being kind and loving and compassionate, but it is also standing on the truth of God’s word and speaking the truth of the gospel to the people of the world when so many are now compromising the gospel message in order to be liked by other human beings. For what good is it if we lie to people in order to make them feel good? It is not good if we give them a false gospel message which makes them feel good, on the promise of heaven, but while it sends them straight to hell. Not kind at all!!

And what is the peace of God? It is also not a compromise of truth and righteousness in order to make other people feel good. The peace of God is in truth and righteousness and in doing the will of God. For as long as we continue to live for the flesh and in sin we cannot be at peace with God and we cannot know the peace of God in our own hearts and minds. For we know the peace of God in our lives when we surrender our lives to the will of God for our lives, and we submit to doing the will of God and to living for God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Acts 26:18] 

An Original Work / January 25, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love