Bear Much Fruit: Gentleness

I can’t quite imagine the emotion of the scene. A woman, caught in the act of adultery, put on display before many, judgements falling free from her peers. If I had to guess I would imagine her voice was shaking, body trembling, and her mind racing with worry about what was about to become of her.   

“At dawn He appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around Him, and He sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”
-John 8:2-5  

Jesus responds. Not immediately with words, but with gentleness.
He bends down and begins to write in the sand.   
Jesus doesn’t berate her. He doesn’t call out her already known faults. He doesn’t even speak.  
He tenderly stoops down and gently presses His finger into the sand.  

“But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger. When they kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.” -John 8:6-8  

I can now imagine this woman, previously shaking with fear, tearfully relaxing her body, releasing the tension of the moment. Her Jesus did not respond with harshness, but with complete and utter gentleness.   

Jesus’s actions were gentle. His tone was gentle. And as a result? The accusers began to leave the scene, peacefully. No one threw a stone at the sinner.  

Gentleness helped calm the woman’s storm.   

Yet, gentleness is not always an easy default, especially when living life post pregnancy and infant loss. But I think gentleness is worth pursuing, because the benefits are real and available and are proven to soothe our wounded souls.   

We must first learn to be gentle with ourselves. Give yourself time to heal, time to grieve. Refrain from comparing your story, your unique pain, to that of another woman’s. God did not ask you to walk her journey, only yours. No two losses are identical and thus will not be processed as such. Give yourself grace. Take baby steps towards healing. There is no timeline for grief and no right or wrongs, sisters.    We must also learn to be gentle with others. Losing a child is a pain like no other. In our grief, it is easy to become easily irritated or offended by other people’s actions, or lack of actions for that matter. Try to remember that they are doing the best that they can, just as you are. Most people are not trying to be malicious or deepen your pain, their hearts are in the right place.   

Learning to be gentle with ourselves and others will help calm our storms, sweet sisters.   I love the verse, Philippians 4:5, that says “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” We can act in gentleness because the Lord is near.  

He is close to the brokenhearted. Just as He stood with the adulterous woman, He stands with us. He stoops down into the sand and meets us where we are, in our pain and hurt, our darkest moments.    Gentleness is an overflow of God’s nearness, the natural outflow of a life with Christ. We draw near to Jesus and His spirit fills us with precious fruit, this gentleness, that when we experience it, we can’t help but give it away.   

So let’s seek Him with all we have, ladies. Let’s be gentle with ourselves and with others. Let’s claim power over the storm and power over the accuser, through the healing power and touch of Jesus Christ.   

How can you display gentleness today?
In what ways have you felt gentleness from the Father in your grief?

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Brittnie lives in Sugar Land, Texas and enjoys writing on her blog and other outlets, baking, lingering coffee dates, and soaking in moments with her family. She is a wife to Brandon and a mom to Clara, Camille, and Hope Mom to Baby A (Clara’s twin) and Chance. Psalm 62:1-2 is her go to verse when she needs quick encouragement. She is author of Desert Song, and you can visit with Brittnie at her personal blog, A Joy Renewed, where she shares her faith and family, and encourages her readers to claim joy despite circumstance.

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