Paul says in verse 7 that “we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.” It brought to mind my daughter Elizabeth, whose little Elijah is now two years old. I think of the tenderness she shows toward him as she cares for him, especially when he was just a new, tiny being. There was and is tenderness because there’s affection. Tenderness when he’s being a sweet little darling, and tenderness when his sinful nature comes to the front. I think it’s a beautiful analogy that Paul uses when he writes to the Thessalonians—the in-God's-image tenderness of a nursing mother, rooted in affection.
Then in verse 11, Paul goes on to say that he was “exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children.” Another analogy of the love of a father who disciples and trains his children—“so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (v. 12).
These are word pictures God gives us of how we are to relate to one another in the family of God. Paul says he was gentle among the people because he had an affection for them and wanted to encourage them toward godly living.
So I ask myself—Do I tenderly encourage fellow believers to walk worthy of their calling in Christ—for His glory and the sake of the gospel? Do I have an affection for them? Do I encourage, and when I do, do I do it gently?
The fruit of the Spirit is .... gentleness.
"As God by His Spirit reveals new areas of my life into which He wishes to move and work, my responsibility is to allow Him to have His way without resistance or hindrance. As He steadily and surely takes over more and more ground in my daily experience, the crop will gradually yield increase.... There can be a bountiful harvest of divine fruit because of the Good Gardener's great skill and my simple, humble, hearty response to His work within."
--Phillip Keller in A Gardener Looks at the Fruit of the Spirit
Painting ~ Special Moments, George Goodwin Kilburne 1839-1924
via I Am A Child In Art History public domain
via I Am A Child In Art History public domain
