1056) When considering the topic of being gentle, my second title to this “minute” is, Am I speaking softly enough for you to hear me? If this title conjures up a bit of confusion, you’re not alone.

We live in a world that has so many options and distractions that if you want to be heard, you must make a lot of noise. The problem is, making this noise rarely gets you what you want (unless you are in the tiny, tiny percentage that has a post go viral). Because of these overly aggressive actions, Christians may think that being heard is selfish, therefore, a sinful thing. Not necessarily.

Gentleness is often pictured as someone being a doormat. This is far from accurate. This word in Ephesians 4:2-3 means meekness in the original Greek. Meekness does not mean that you let others take advantage of you, instead, it means gentle strength. Is this an oxymoron? I guess that would depend on how you define strength.

There are two types of strength I’d like to focus on. The first is a short-term demonstration of strength. I see this when a person acts/reacts emotionally, verbally, and/or physically to some imbalance of power. It’s a split-second reaction. If strong enough, others will likely respond out of fear or anger. This is not the strength of meekness/gentleness.

The biblical meaning of the word meek, is to have your power (or authority) under control. You can picture this with a horse that has been broken. The horse still has great strength, but it is controlled.

Meekness/gentleness is when you stop, reflect and then choose an action. It takes practice, using breathing techniques or other skills to help. Putting some time between your actions and your reactions will help you cultivate meekness. If you’re a leader, parent, or teacher, it is more profitable to calmly instruct, guide, or react in this manner. This is a learned skill and not something we automatically do.

Gentleness is a sign of maturity that is worth the trouble of obtaining. Try it out. It will improve your leadership skills.