Spirit of Gentleness
“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.” Galatians 6:1
This week I have been reflecting on this part of Paul’s letter to the churches of Galatia and truly considering what it means to restore and what a “spirit of gentleness” is. When I think of restoration, my mind immediately goes to cars. I have seen the restoration process of a lot of cars, and it always blows me away when someone is able to take a rusty old car that may not even run and make it look and run like it did when it was fresh off the lot all those years ago. They take something that many people consider broken or worthless, and completely repair it back to its original state and functionality. When Holy Spirit is speaking through Paul and says to restore those caught in transgression, He is saying to take the ones who have errored, those who are broken or feel like a lost cause, and help them become completely repaired, able to be renewed and pursue the Father’s original intent for their lives. As sons, we are to do this in a spirit of gentleness. Paul’s letter was originally written in Greek, and he uses the word prautetos (gentleness, mildness) which stems from the word praus(mildness, humility). Humility is being free from pride and arrogance. I charge all of us with same charge Paul gave the Galatians. As sons of Yahweh, if we find anyone who has errored in any way, it is our responsibility to help them repair themselves completely, doing so in a spirit of gentleness and humility, free from pride and arrogance. Let us be the ones who are faithful with what Yahweh has trusted us with!