Gentleness paints a beautiful picture in contrast to pride and power. Humility and lowliness are critical components to this fruit of the Spirit.

Rooted in the example of Jesus and the plea of a Savior who possesses it and provides rest for the lives of those who will come to Him, we find rich biblical teaching for Christians to demonstrate gentleness.

The “others-directed” nature of this fruit of the Spirit is opposed by those who foster aggression, self-promotion and who aspire to positions of power.

However, three special thoughts help cultivate gentleness in our lives: altering our posture through prayer, learning to yield, and spending time with those of “no account.”

Kneeling in prayer and speaking to God about those who have wronged or angered us increases the difficulty of speaking harshly to them.

Pride is the great enemy of a humility demonstrated by learning to yield our will to that of someone else.

Jesus provided an example of hospitality extended to others who do not have status or a position of power in the eyes of the world.

Three steps, powerful ways to cultivate gentleness.

Kenneson’s approach to goodness involves a fruit that is cultivated in the midst of a self-help culture. Three significant thoughts introduce the idea of goodness in this chapter.

One, the consistent testimony of God’s word is that God alone is unequivocally good. Jesus indicates this in his discussion with the rich young ruler (Mk. 10:18).

Two, if human bondage to sin makes us incapable of goodness apart from God, we are nevertheless created with the capacity and potential for goodness, stemming from our being created in His image.

Three, if God alone is good and humans are capable of good only through Him, then knowing what counts for good can also only be determined under the guidance of God’s Spirit.

In the midst of the obstacles to goodness, several avenues of cultivating goodness are noteworthy.

Learning to name our sin, attending to God’s word, and imitating the saints are three ways the cultivation of goodness encourages a greater “others-directed” approach to leadership.

When leaders are characterized by goodness, a self-awareness, an upward attention, and an outward activity describe the cultivation of this fruit.

The fruit of the Spirit, kindness, applies in every area of the Christian life. However, instead of the normal way the posts have discussed the fruit of the Spirit, I want to share another key section of Kenneson’s book involving application.

Kenneson approaches the application of demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit in every chapter. The following is a perspective of how he applies kindness.

He begins by asking a question in relationship to our life’s story: How important are others to that story? The direction of his application leads to the interdependence of relationships as Christians.

Reflecting on the relationships most cherished and admired, in what ways are they characterized by interdependence?

A Christian’s life is intricately woven into the lives of many other people. How different would our approach to kindness be if our livelihood was dependent on others and their livelihood dependent on us?

Listening and interacting with one another is crucial to demonstrating kindness. If Christians were demonstrating kindness in a culture that is characterized by self-sufficiency, imagine how different the world might look.

While peace is often associated with the cessation or absence of conflict, there is a positive connotation to peace, a wholeness.

The Hebrew word shalom and the Greek word eirênê both carry the idea of wholeness and harmony that characterizes a way of life.

Kenneson discusses several obstacles that stand in the way of this kind of biblical peace.

Individualism, and the promotion of such individualism, strikes at the heart of achieving biblical peace.

The privatization of faith takes individualism even further, as many often speak of a “personal relationship with Jesus,” meaning one’s own private relationship. Perhaps this explains why so many “self-professed Christians believe they can be perfectly good Christians apart from the church (92).

Compartmentalizing life, defending our rights, and sanctioning violence are only a few of the ways peace is attacked.

Incorporating baptism, edifying one another, admonishing one another, and forgiving one another are a few ways to support biblical peace.

When peace becomes a way of life there will be the kind of harmony and wholeness that can only be the result of a relationship with God and one another.

The characteristic of joy exceeds simple pleasure. Kenneson points out that joy is a byproduct of the desire for something more outward.

The “other-directedness,” outward movement, of joy may very well be why it is so closely connected to love. If love be related to God’s grace, the gift exemplifies a significance between the two Greek words with the same root: charis (grace) and chara (joy).

As amazing as it sounds, scripture connects suffering with joy; “living joyfully despite persecution and affliction does not require one to deny the reality of suffering or pain” (63).

The world presents the greatest obstacles concerning joy. English poet Lord Byron said, “There’s not a joy the world can give like that it takes away.” The craving for more and cultural dispositions of anxiety and fear are fed by an advertising industry promoting both.

Cultivating joy occurs when we are able to rejoice in the opportunity to worship God, nurturing contentment, and learning to enjoy children.

There is more and I encourage you to get Kenneson’s book and read the depths to this fruit of the Spirit.