Tuesday, December 27, 2016

A Gentle and Quiet Spirit

I'm a big fan of using a concordance when I want to dwell on a particular verse. It helps me to get a better understanding of the connotations of the specific words chosen and through it God speaks to me deeper revelations of His heart.

This morning, I was pondering on 1 Peter 3:4 which talks about the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.

I've done a word study on this verse before. Today I wanted to refresh my memory on the full meaning of gentle and quiet. (Spoiler alert: Quiet has nothing to do with volume!) I needed to recenter my heart and my focus.

According to Strong's concordance, the word translated gentle has connotations of reserve AND strength. It's described further as "God's strength under His control" or "demonstrating power without harshness." Gentle. I love that picture.

The word translated quiet is about inner stillness. It describes a spirit that stands "steady (settled) due to a divinely-inspired inner calmness." My very favorite description: "'calmly quiet' or 'appropriately tranquil' by not misusing (or overusing) words that would stir up needless friction (destructive commotion)."

That last one hit me right in the feels this morning. And that feeling was conviction. OUCH. ;) Pretty sure I could've used a reminder on that at some point last night!

Basically, when Peter wrote about a gentle and quiet spirit, this is what he envisioned: Strength demonstrated under control without harshness and a heart at peace that holds it's tongue from words that would only cause unnecessary drama. That does sound like a beautiful soul.

1 comment: