“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”

gentle,

“Gentle” means forbearance, moderation, reasonable. It comes from two words: unto and fitting or seemly. This person is equitable, fair, or moderate. He forebears other people and does not insist on his own way. He can yield to others because he possesses a forbearing spirit. He willingly puts up with dishonor and mistreatment. He has his rights but he is willing to forgo them. 

The word “gentle” occurs four times in the New Testament (1 Ti 3:3; Ti 3:2; 1 Pe 2:18). Paul uses another word for the same idea in Philippians, where a conflict between two women threatened to split the church. 

Phil. 4:5, “Let your gentleness [pliability, flexibility] be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.”

PRINCIPLE: 

The divine viewpoint produces a grace-giving believer. 

APPLICATION: 

The “gentle” believer is not rigid and does not stand on strict justice. It is possible to be judicially right but not do the right thing. It is one thing to be right according to the norm of the letter but wrong in terms of the spirit of the thing. 

We need to redress the injustice of legalistic justice. We do this by understanding the principle of grace, “I have not earned anything and do not deserve anything from God. He gives to me out of His unadulterated grace even though I do not deserve it.” We should deal with fellow believers in the same way. 

A person of grace deals with others from the place of strength. There is strength in God’s grace. This is the grace of divine viewpoint. All we have to do is remember how much the Lord forgives us to give us the right perspective on forgiving others. 

Ep 4:31-32, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. ³² And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

Divine viewpoint produces a forbearing and considerate attitude. This believer is quick to forgive. He is not quick to condemn.