A Quiet and Gentle Spirt...

In 1 Peter 3:1-6 we wives are commanded to have a "gentle and quiet spirit."  Granted Peter is definitely talking to believing wives in this text but are you aware that having a gentle and quiet spirit is actually a command to every believer?  I actually had never thought about it before but it is.  Even Jesus was quiet and gentle, and He is our model as we move toward maturity in becoming more Christlike. 


Let's look at verse 4 a little bit more in depth, "...but let [your beauty] be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible ornament of a quiet and gentle spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God."  I know several ladies who will read this verse and panic thinking there is no way they can be precious in God's sight because they don't have a "quiet and gentle spirit."  Their personality is such that they do not perceive themselves as being quiet and gentle. :)  I have great news!  A quiet and gentle spirit, I have learned, is not a personality trait, but is an attitude of the heart that is very precious in the sight of God.  It has nothing to do with our personality!!!  Isn't  that great news?!!


I have begun a study on the pursuit of a gentle and quiet spirit by Julie Gossack.  A long time ago my former pastor was preaching on the Beatitudes and explained what was the actual meaning of the word "meek."  When compared to the Greek language English is sadly lacking in descriptive words.


Let's look at the definition of the word "gentle."  Praus, "prah-ooce'" -Meekness, expressed not in a man's outward behavior only, nor in his relations to his fellow man, or his mere natural disposition, but expressed rather as an inwrought grace of the soul, first and chiefly directed toward God.  (It is) that attitude of spirit in which we accept God's dealings with us as good and do not dispute or resist.  (Praus) is not readily expressed in English since the term "meekness" suggests weakness, but (it) is a condition of the mind and heart, which demonstrates gentleness, not in weakness, but power.  It is a virtue born in strength of character." Zodhiates, Spiros The Complete Word Study New Testament. Tennessee: AMG, 1991.


And now, let's look at the definition of the word "quiet."  Hesuchios, "hay-soo' khee-os" -Keeping one's seat, still, tranquil, undisturbed from without, peaceable, quiet.  Possibly a compound of hedraios and scheo.  Hedraios "hed-rah'-yos" means immovable, settled, steadfast.  Scheo "skheh'-o" means to hold.  Zodhiates, Spiros The Complete Word Study New Testament. Tennessee: AMG, 1991.  And Zodhiates, Spiros The Complete Word Study Dictionary, New Testament. Tennessee: AMG, 1992.

Personally, I find it very interesting that the good Lord "allowed" me to begin a study on this subject when everything around me is in, what seems to me, a tremendous whirlwind.  You know that I do not believe that there are any co-incidences in life, just God-incidences.  :) 

So my question to you is, "Will you join with me on my journey of pursuing a gentle and quiet spirit regardless of what is going on around you in life?  I hope so.  :)

Firmly in His Grip....