Cultivate | Gentleness | Drew Sherman

Well, good morning, welcome to Compass. Happy 4th of July weekend. We're so glad you're joining us here today. Let's stand and let's worship together. Let's sing of the joy of the Lord this morning. ♪ I got the joy of the Lord deep down inside of my soul ♪ ♪ And I can't hide it no more, I gotta praise Him ♪ ♪ I got the joy of the Lord deep down inside of my soul ♪ ♪ And I can't hide it no more, I gotta praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Who broke my chains and bought my freedom ♪ ♪ What else can I say but thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Cause you're just that good, just that faithful ♪ ♪ And you're just that kind, I'm so grateful ♪ ♪ That you saved my life like you said you would ♪ ♪ With our hands up high, so with my hands up high ♪ ♪ Heart abandoned and our faith on fire, singing and dancing ♪ ♪ Cause you saved my life like you said you would ♪ ♪ Cause you're just, cause you're just that good, hey ♪ All right, sing this out. ♪ You put a song in my heart, I sing with all that I got ♪ ♪ And tell the world who you are, I'm gonna praise you ♪ ♪ I put a song in your heart, I sing with all that I got ♪ ♪ And tell the world who you are, I'm gonna praise you ♪ ♪ Lord who broke my chains and bought my freedom ♪ ♪ What else can I say but thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Cause you're just that good, just that faithful ♪ ♪ And you're just that kind, I'm so grateful ♪ ♪ That you saved my life like you said you would ♪ ♪ So in my hands of heart, heart of beds ♪ ♪ And in the feet of fire, singing and dancing ♪

♪ Cause you saved my life like you said you would ♪ ♪ Cause you're just, cause you're just that good ♪ ♪ Yeah, you're just, yeah, you're just that good ♪ We sing this out to the one who broke our chains. Come on, church. ♪ And to the one who broke my chains and bought my freedom ♪ ♪ Oh, what else can I say but thank you, Jesus ♪ Come on, church. ♪ And to the one who broke my chains and bought my freedom ♪ ♪ Oh, what else can I say but thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Cause you're just that good, just that faithful ♪ ♪ And you're just that kind, I'm so grateful ♪ ♪ That you saved my life like you said you would ♪ With our hands up high. ♪ So in my hands of heart, heart of beds ♪ ♪ And in the faith on fire, singing and dancing ♪ ♪ Cause you saved my life like you said you would ♪ ♪ Cause you're just, cause you're just that good ♪ ♪ Cause you're just, cause you're just that good ♪ ♪ Yeah, you're just, yeah, you're just that good ♪ ♪ Yeah, you're just, yeah, you're just that good ♪ ♪ You've got the flowers and all of their beauty ♪ ♪ I don't have to wonder, you know what you're doing ♪ ♪ I don't have to wonder, you know what you're doing ♪ ♪ So why would I worry at all, you're faithful to surprise ♪ ♪ Everything I need, everything I need, my Father has it ♪ ♪ My Father has it, every single time the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ I know my Father has it, my Father has it, yeah ♪ ♪ He's got it every time ♪ ♪ Look at the sparrow, he might be for nothing ♪

♪ No fear, no fear, no fear, no fear, no fear, no fear ♪ ♪ Of tomorrow and what it will bring ♪ ♪ If I have you I have enough ♪ ♪ For sure love will satisfy me, see ♪ ♪ Everything I need, everything I need ♪ ♪ My Father has it, my Father has it ♪ ♪ In simple time the Lord will provide, I know ♪ ♪ Yes, my Father has it, yes ♪ ♪ He's such a good Father, yes ♪ ♪ To seek first the kingdom and its treasures ♪ ♪ Everything else will be added, all that I need, yes ♪ Come on, we sing. ♪ I know my God's an empty head, yes ♪ ♪ And I know my God's an empty head, yes ♪ ♪ He gives us blessings, love born of blessings ♪ ♪ I'm still believing, I know the Lord will provide ♪ Oh, we trust you, God. ♪ To seek first the kingdom and its treasures ♪ ♪ Everything else will be added, all that I need, yes ♪ ♪ I know the Lord will provide, I know ♪ ♪ I know my God's an empty head, yes ♪ ♪ He gives us blessings, love born of blessings ♪ ♪ I'm still believing, I know the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ Everything I need, everything I need, yes ♪ ♪ My Father has it, my Father has it, every single time ♪ ♪ The Lord will provide, I know, yes, I know ♪ ♪ To seek first the kingdom and its treasures ♪ ♪ Everything else will be added, all that I need, yes ♪ ♪ Oh, I know the Lord will provide, yes ♪ ♪ I know my God's an empty head, yes ♪

♪ He gives us blessings, love born of blessings ♪ ♪ I'm still believing, I know the Lord will provide, come on ♪ ♪ I know the Lord will provide, I'm believing ♪ ♪ I know the Lord will provide, come on ♪ ♪ I am an instrument of exaltation ♪ ♪ I was born to live the name above all names ♪ ♪ You hear the melody of all creation ♪ ♪ There's a song of praise that only I can sing ♪ ♪ There's a song of praise that only I can bring ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one, only Jesus, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, there is no one, only Jesus, yes ♪ ♪ Jesus, you are the infinite God of the ages ♪ ♪ Yeah, you chose to make my heart your dwelling place ♪ ♪ You healed my brokenness, showed me your glory, yes, yes ♪ ♪ So I have songs of faith not even angels sing ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, there is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ Only you are worthy, only you are worthy ♪ ♪ Only you are worthy, only you are worthy ♪ ♪ Only you are worthy, only you are worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ To prove to us the Father's love ♪

♪ Jesus Christ be lifted up, holy, holy ♪ ♪ Lamb of God, anointed one ♪ ♪ Who was and is and is to come ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne above, holy, holy ♪ ♪ Holy, righteous one who shed his blood ♪ ♪ To prove to us the Father's love ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ be lifted up, holy, holy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ Only you Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ Sing this out. ♪ There is no one, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one, only Jesus ♪ ♪ God is worthy of everything we do like you Jesus goes ♪ ♪ ministry, ministry, ministry ♪ ♪ We look on you, we look on you like you look on me oo, ooo, ooo ♪ ♪ ministry, ministry, ministry ♪ ♪ We look on you, we look on you like you look on me oo, ooo, ooo ♪ ♪ We look on you, we look on you like you look on me oo, ooo, ooo ♪ ♪ In the resting of my life, you don't rush through any seas ♪ ♪ You always take your time, careful hand, a gentle guide ♪ ♪ You take what's dead away and you prove what's running wild ♪ ♪ So be the garden of my heart and the soil of my feet ♪ ♪ So be the garden of my heart and the soil of my soul ♪

♪ Break up the foul ground, cut back the overgrown ♪ ♪ I won't shy away, I will let the branches fall ♪ Through what can stay, while You love can go Through the winter, I'm still alive While You're planted in the dirt As ever reaching to the light You prepare me for the darkened times You'll say when You start And You'll teach me to abide So be the garden of my heart And the soil of my soul Break up the foul ground Cut back the old of old And I won't shy away I won't let the branches fall So while You walk can stay And while You love can go You know better And I'll remain in You You'll remain in me And I will trust Your shining I'll remain in You You'll remain in me From the start until the ending I'll remain in You You'll remain in me And I will trust Your shining I'll remain in You You'll remain in me From the start until the ending

You know better And I'll remain in You You'll remain in me And I will trust Your shining I'll remain in You You'll remain in me From the start until the ending You know better So be the garden of my heart And the soil of my soul Break up the foul ground Cut back the old of old And I won't shy away I won't let the branches fall So while You walk can stay And while You love can go Before the sweetness, before the color The ground gets tended to The soil gets ready Seeds go in And then we wait In the same way God is cultivating something within us Transformation The Holy Spirit is producing fruit in our lives It's different, real, sweet And it lasts Jesus said, abide in me Because apart from Him, we can only do so so much, but when we remain rooted in Him, real growth happens.

This season, prepare the soil and watch what God grows. Well, hey, I wanna welcome all of you that are watching today. What an honor I have today to speak to all of our amazing Compass campuses. So whether you're in Mid-Cities or at Roanoke or in North Fort Worth or in Colleyville, and of course, we welcome the men of the Allred Unit in Wichita Falls. Hey, man, I'm so excited to share with you today this message that God has put on my heart, and I wanna start with the story, the true story of Lieutenant John Blanchard, who was stationed in Florida during World War II. One evening, he went to the library and he found a book that was very compelling to him, and he began to read the book, and as he read through the book, he became impressed, not with the content of the pages, but with the notes that were actually penciled in the margins. The feminine handwriting showed insight and understanding, as well as a bit of tenderness. He flipped to the front of the book and found the previous user, Ms. Hollis Maynall. Blanchard did some research and found her address, New York State. So he wrote her a letter, and the following day, he was shipped overseas. For 13 months, they corresponded back and forth.

They opened up their hearts to each other and they realized they were falling deeply in love. Once, he requested a picture, but she refused, saying if he really loved her, it wouldn't matter what she looked like. Finally, the day came when they would meet. The place, Grand Central Station, 7 p.m. She would carry a rose. He would be in uniform carrying the book that started the affair. It was now 6.59. He straightened his uniform, his heart's pumping with anxiety. I'll let Lieutenant Blanchard tell you in his own words. He writes, a young woman came toward me. Her figure was long and slim. Her hair was blonde with curls. Her eyes were as blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness to them. She wore a pale green suit and looked like spring had come alive. I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice she was not carrying a rose. As she passed, a small provocative smile curved her lips. Going my way, soldier? Almost uncontrollably, he says, I made a step in her direction. And then I saw, in the distance, the woman with the rose. There she stood, well past 40, gray hair tucked under a worn hat.

More than plump, her thick-ankled feet were thrust into low-heeled shoes. But she held a rose. The girl in the green suit walked quickly away. I felt that I was ready to split in two. I had a keen desire to follow the beautiful woman, yet I had a deep longing for the woman whose spirit had truly held my heart captive. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible. Her gray eyes had a warm twinkle. I didn't hesitate. My fingers gripped the warm book that was to identify me. This may not be love, I thought, but it would be something precious, a friendship for which I was and must be forever grateful. I squared my shoulders, I held out the book to the woman, and I said, I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynol. I'm so glad to finally meet you. May I take you to dinner? The woman's face broadened in a smile. She said, I don't know what this is about, soldier, but the young lady in green just went by and begged me to carry this rose. She said, if you ask me to dinner, I should tell you that she's waiting for you in that restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of a test. I love that story. We're in a series called Cultivate,

and honestly, this entire summer is gonna be some kind of a test to make sure that we're producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God. It's the celebration of the fruit of a life rooted in Christ. Our world desperately needs the church, and of course, God's people, to be growing this fruit in their life. Our world needs to know that there's an orchard of this fruit available because we're doing. the hard work of producing this fruit for them to be able to choose from. And when we talk about the fruit of the Spirit, we have to remember that we're not talking about a temperament. We're not talking about personalities. This is an outflow of the love of God from our hearts. And we find the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians chapter five. If you have your Bibles today or your Bible apps, we'll begin in Galatians five, verse 22. It says this, but the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace and forbearance and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control against such things. There is no law. And what that means is that you can have as many of these fruits in your life as possible. And I have been given the task today,

I should say the honor today, of talking about one of the fruits of the Spirit. I'm gonna talk about gentleness. And honestly, I don't think this is an easy task because as soon as you heard the word gentleness, you probably already decided in your heart what that means because that word conjures up images, doesn't it? And when you think of the word gentleness, you think of things that are, admit it, you think of things that are weak, things that are soft, things that are warm and simple, muted things, gentle things. You might've thought of that song on the sound of music, raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. You know, gentle things, soft things, a new fallen snow, a whisper, a warm cup of tea, a reassuring smile, soft things, soothing things, comforting things, yeah? No, I don't think that's what Paul means at all by the word gentleness because to get you to see and understand what gentleness means, I need you to first understand and I need you to unsee gentleness. To get you to see gentleness, I need you to unsee it because it's hard to see gentleness in our world today. It's hard to find it. It doesn't seem to fit in the fruit basket, if you will. It's more like a tomato. Is it a fruit?

Is it a vegetable? What is it? And I guess in order to get to the bottom of this, we have to define gentleness. So we have to have a little Greek lesson then because you know, the New Testament was originally written in Greek and the Greek word for gentle in the New Testament is praos, praos, and it means a gentle strength, humility, or my favorite part of the definition, strength held under control. Strength held under control, meekness. So when we think back to the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, what we are hoping to grow when it comes to gentleness is this, the idea of strength held under control, a gentle strength, if you will, a power that's under control. I thought about the amazing passage in Isaiah 40 where God speaking through the prophet says, see, the sovereign Lord comes with power and he rules with a mighty arm. You see, his reward is with him and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in his arms. He carries them close to his heart. He gently leads those that have young. I love this because it's power under control. It's authority that use gentleness to lead people.

And by that definition, Jesus fits the description in every way possible. When Jesus is facing the cross, he is facing death. Let's be honest, when he's facing torture, he is still approaching the entire experience with gentleness. He prays a prayer to the father, not my will, but yours be done. That's power under control. And again, that's not the way we tend to view gentleness. That's not the way the world tends to define it, but gentleness has everything to do with power under control, strength, and yet a posture of surrender. So if pride wants a platform or demands a platform, gentleness is a posture of humility. Jesus often practiced gentleness. I'll give you a practical example. I'm reminded of the time toward the end of Jesus' life when the Roman soldiers have come for him in the garden and Peter is not going down without a fight. That was Peter. And so the Bible says that he cuts off the ear of the high priest. I think we can all agree this was not a gentle act, it was a pretty violent act. And Jesus in full control performs a miracle and he puts the guy's ear back and he teaches Peter a little lesson in gentleness. And he says to Peter, put your sword back in its place

for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. He says, Peter, do you think that I do not have the ability that I cannot call on my father in heaven? And he'll at once put at my disposal more than 12 legions of angels. You see, Jesus had all the power, he had all the authority, it's all under his control. But he yields his power because he understood the greater good. And I wanna set that tone for you today when you understand that you're in a relationship with a God who is gentle to the core, a God who is kind and considerate, a God who is slow to anger, abounding in love, it starts to shift the position of your heart a little bit. And when you open yourself up to that gentle side of God, something happens in you, something starts melting in you, and something that was very firm got a little softer, something that was mean-spirited got a little kinder. And you begin to think in your heart, you know what? As gently as I have been treated by God, I want to be the expression of that gentleness to others. I'd like to take that gentleness that comes my way, and I'd like to let it flow out to the people in and around my life. And that becomes the posture of your heart. And God uses gentleness, believe me, friend, all throughout Scripture. Think about it. He sends David, not another giant to face Goliath,

but a shepherd boy, a teenager, a stone in his hand and a faith in his heart. God could have matched force with force, of course He could have, but instead He chose what looks small and overlooked and even unlikely. That is God's way. He calls Moses, a man who felt inadequate with words and unsure of himself, to lead his people out of slavery. Not the polished speaker, not the obvious candidate. God delights in using surrendered weakness to display His strength. He chose Gideon, small in stature, hiding in a winepress, full of fear and self-doubt, and turns into a deliverer. Because God does not need swagger to accomplish His will. He's drawn to humility, to dependence, to hearts that know they cannot do it without Him. And then there's Elijah. You remember his story? He's exhausted, afraid, and emotionally spent. He's hiding in a cave after Jezebel threatens his life. God could have met him in the wind. He could have spoke to him in the earthquake. He could have thundered through the fire, but He didn't. How did He do it? He came and He spoke in a gentle whisper. And then there's Mary. Young, ordinary, unnoticed by the world, and yet chosen to carry the Son of God, the Savior of the world, entrusted to a teenage girl.

That's just how God works. He often wraps His greatest purposes in quiet obedience and humble lives. And when God Himself, think about this, this might be the greatest example of gentleness in all of the world. When God Himself steps into our world, He didn't come with the posture of a tyrant. He did not arrive as a military power or a political force. He came as a newborn baby, an infant, fragile, vulnerable, gentle. Just think about that. The Almighty made Himself small enough to be held. That's not weakness, that's holy gentleness. So throughout Scripture and all throughout history, God often chooses the gentle way, not because He lacks power, but because His power is always perfectly under control. Now, I want you to think just for a minute, friend, about the world that you and I live in, the place we occupy, an ego-driven, market-driven culture where hostility rules, where there's lots of anger and lots of division, where it's so argumentative. I was thinking about this here in America. We have television sports, television shows about sports that we call. entertainment and we argue for the sake of entertainment. There's first take on ESPN and Undisputed and First Things First, just men and women arguing back and forth for the

sake of entertainment. And God says into this hostile, angry, ego-driven, competitive, argumentative world, Paul says, those who are marked by the Spirit should bear the fruit of gentleness. In fact, let me tell you a little secret. This is awesome. It's not the powerful who will eventually take over the world. Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 5. Blessed are those who are gentle, for they will inherit the earth. So Jesus says, the world belongs, it belongs to the gentle. The whole earth belongs to anybody who is gentle. Do I really believe that? Well, I wouldn't except for Jesus said that it does. And if Jesus said it, then I believe it. And I want to be gentle like that. We're called to bring gentleness into the world in which we live. Look at what Paul said. This is awesome. Philippians 4. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again. Rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Let your gentleness be evident to everyone. Is it possible that gentleness is the byproduct of joy? That gentleness leads to joy? That people who are gentle are just more joyful? I believe that with all my heart. And the more I study this fruit of the Spirit, gentleness, the more I want it in my life, and the more you should want it in your life, friend. And I want us to lean into this for the next few moments as a church, because we need to get this right. And maybe you're asking, like, well, what are some of the benefits of cultivating that fruit of gentleness? Glad you asked. I'm going to give you six of them, all right? So if you're taking notes, let's do this, okay? Number one, gentleness diffuses conflict. It de-escalates anger. It diffuses anger. The Bible says in Proverbs 15, a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. This is just brilliance flying off the pages of the Bible. I'm going to give you a little coaching tip right now, if you will. Can I give you a hint? In this life, as you go through life, when other people raise their voice, try lowering yours. That simple tip will save you an enormous amount of conflict in your marriage, in your parenting, in relationships, with friends at school, in the workplace. When other people raise their voice, you lower yours. That's strength under control. Have you ever heard of mirror neurons? Mirror neurons are specialized brain cells that fire both when you perform an action and when you watch someone else perform that exact same action. So if someone is angry and raises their voice, you want to get angry and raise your voice. If someone is energetic and excited, you want to get energetic and excited. And it works the same way with gentleness.

If you lower your voice, if you're calm, they'll tend to lower their voice and be calm. It de-escalates the situation. Here's a real practical verse for you, Ecclesiastes 10. If your boss is angry at you, don't quit. A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes. Sometimes people in leadership just vent a little. I do it sometimes. Sometimes when we're in leadership, we feel pressure and we look for others to blame. That's not good leadership by the way, but it happens. And when it does happen, a quiet spirit can overcome it. So gentleness defuses anger. Number two, gentleness disarms critics. Now the more successful in life that you are, the more critics you're going to have. I've learned this. It's just one of the great realities of the human condition. If you have no critics, you probably haven't accomplished a whole lot. Someone once told me, if you don't want critics, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. That seems accurate to me. How do we handle those who are critical of us? Critics at school, critics at work, those who oppose you. The one word answer is of course, gentleness. We often give in to trolls on social media. They put out sound bites of Criticism and they're expecting you to respond. They're trying to get a charge out of you and they want you to respond in anger. They want you to be defensive. Paul gives us another way. He says, we appeal gently when evil things are said about us. We disarm critics through gentleness. Listen to me, anger is the vocabulary of the prideful but gentleness is the vocabulary of the secure. When you know who you are in Christ, you don't have to join the chaos. You don't have to argue. You don't have to weigh in on everything. You don't have to have the last word. You can remain unoffendable

because your identity is settled in him. Michelle and I were in Ireland a couple of weeks ago and we're sitting in a restaurant and we heard a woman talking at a table nearby us and she had a deep Southern accent and I leaned over and I said, I'm gonna make a wager to you, babe. I'll bet that woman is from Texas. And Michelle looked at me and said, I'm not ready to lose money on that. We both knew that was the sound of Texas. It was the sound of Texas. And sure enough, we were right. She was from Plano. Here's the spiritual parallel. If you follow Jesus, you ought to have a spiritual accent. The fruit of the spirit should be so cultivated in your heart that it comes out in the way you speak and the way you respond and the way you carry yourself. And one of the clearest accents of a Christ follower is gentleness. It speaks to the heart of people around you and critics are almost always disarmed by it. Gentleness is also attractive. I wanna talk to you men just for a moment because sometimes as men, we tend to see gentleness as a weakness. Some of us likely had a father that if we ever cried, they would say, you stop crying right now or I'll give you something to cry about,

which is probably not the best thing to say to your kids. But men, I wanna say this, gentleness is attractive. In 1 Timothy 6, Paul is about to finish his challenge to Timothy in regards to being a godly man. And he teaches him the six traits of a godly man. Look at them. He says, but you men of God flee from all this, pursue righteousness and godliness and faith and love and endurance. And look at there, gentleness. And you younger men might be thinking, pastor, are you saying that chicks dig gentle guys? Yeah, I mean, definitely more so than angry guys. But this also applies to being a godly woman. Peter says this, you should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a, listen to this, a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God and not only to God, to others. So women of God, gentleness is attractive to the man in your life and to everyone that you do life with. But gentleness also communicates love. I wanna give all of you who are married some advice when it comes to communicating with your spouse. The quickest way to improve your marriage is to talk to your spouse in a more gentle manner. Colossians 3, 19 says, husbands love your wives and be gentle with them. Any fool can be rough, right?

Any fool can be rude. Any foolish person can be mean or gruff or abrasive, but godly men are gentle. I love what Rick Warren says. He says, a great marriage is simply the union of two great forgivers. I can tell you that's true. I've been married to Michelle now for 39 years. I am certain that I have hurt her heart many times. She's probably hurt my heart a few times as well, but we have learned the value of three words. I'm so sorry. We've learned the art of forgiveness and we communicate that best with the gentle and quiet spirit. Number five, gentleness helps us witness to those who don't know Jesus. I love the words of 1 Peter 3, verse 15. But in your hearts, honor Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Always be ready to witness to somebody who doesn't know the Lord, yet do it with, look at there, look at there, gentleness and respect. Not with an arrogant, know-it-all attitude. We are witnesses. We're not prosecuting attorneys. Peter's not telling you to argue with people who aren't Christ followers,

but rather to speak in a gentle, loving manner. The goal is not to win an argument friend. It's to persuade a friend if we can make reasonable arguments for Christ with gentleness and respect we greatly enhance the power and the authenticity of our story and Then when someone does become a Christ follower, we should be gentle as we help new believers become engaged into church life One of the most tender moments in the New Testament is when Paul is speaking to the new believers in Thessalonica and he says but we were gentle among you Like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. I Love this passage so much because I can't think of a single thing in the whole world That would be more tender and more affectionate and more gentle than a mother nursing a newborn baby But that's the picture that Paul creates here. I Don't hold newborn babies very often it actually scares me a little bit But when I do I'm so very careful with them Everything around me stops and I focus on the child that I'm holding Because this is a precious child of the Most High God They're fragile and they need to be treated with gentleness and respect And that's the way God sees every one of his sheep the Good Shepherd who loves his sheep and he cares for them deeply Here's one final reason friend to cultivate gentleness Gentleness makes us more like Jesus. That's the best reason of all Gentleness makes us more like Christ When I think of gentleness, I think of Jesus In fact, there's a moment where he gives us a descriptive of himself. Look what he says Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am Gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls Jesus describes himself as gentle he professes gentleness He says I am gentle and humble in heart and it's so interesting to me when you study the life of Jesus There are times when he is Disappointed there are times when he was hungry when he was thirsty There are times when he is sad the Bible says he even wept when Lazarus died

There are times when his frustration led to some indignation Albeit righteous indignation when he realized that the merchants of the temple were cheating some people that he loved That there was even a moment on the cross where he asked God why why why have you forsaken me? But never in scripture Do we ever see him panic never do we see him anxious never do we see him stressed out? Never do we see his anger out of control. You want to know why he was gentle He was gentle Friend do you want to be at peace today? Do you want to live stress-free? Will you pass that test? friend cultivate the gentleness of God in your life But now just a reminder. This is the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God friend. You can't manipulate this You can't fake this this needs to be an inside job and The only way to cultivate the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God is just to surrender your heart to Jesus Friend the gospel is the most gentle story in human history It's about a God who loved us So very much that he sent his one and only son his beloved son to die on a cross for our sins He took on all the pain and all the hatred and all the sin and all the agony and all the hurt and all the darkness in order to offer you and I the gentleness of grace and what Jesus did on that cross as he paved the way for a sinner like you and a sinner like me Had everything to do with gentleness I have one more scripture for you Galatians 6 verse 1 Dear brothers and sisters if another believer is overcome by some sin You who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back on to the right path Why?

Because that's what he did for you He did that for you and for me He got us on the right path and so I want to issue a proclamation To all of our campuses today as we go through the fruit of the Spirit together this summer Dear sweet compass people. Can I give you this proclamation? Let your gentleness be evident to all Let your gentleness be evident to everyone For the Lord, He is near. Can I pray over you? Oh Lord, we pray right now, Father, that you would help us to cultivate the beautiful, beautiful gift, the fruit of gentleness in our life. And I pray, God, that you would help us to have that strength under control. Because we are Christ followers, if we are Christ followers, we're filled with the Holy Spirit, and that gives us power. But help us to keep that power under control, and help us to have not the posture of the prideful or the arrogant, but the posture of humility and the gentle. And I pray, God, that you would help us to be gentle, just like Jesus was gentle. And that's our prayer today. And I pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Hey, I love you guys.