This is the second in a series of what one might call disparate instructions, beginning with the last verse in which Paul gave the instruction about rejoicing (Philippians 4:4-9).

There are maybe seven instructions, if we count the last verse as double: rejoice, rejoice.

That repetition is for emphasis, it is to catch your attention, draw you in to how important that is. The instruction is to rejoice. That is important.

The rejoicing is in the Lord. Paul did not say rejoice in the new car that you bought, or the degree you just got, or the new child. Those things are good and we are supposed to rejoice with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15).

Paul is saying, “Rejoice in the Lord” for a reason.

The Lord is the common, unchanging, ever-glorious reality of the believers, with unending riches (Ephesians 3:8). There is nothing in this world that compares.

So, while Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord,” concerning gentleness, he says it has to do with other people.

Gentleness comes up in various places in Paul’s letters.

• It is the number eight in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)
• As part of what we should be clothe with (Colossians 3:12)
• What a person dedicated to God should pursue (1 Timothy 6:11)
• The need for the Lord’s slaves to correct opponents with gentleness (2 Timothy 2:24-25)
• He emphasized the need for gentleness and total courtesy towards everyone (Titus 3:2)
• He said we have been called to a life of gentleness (Ephesians 4:2)

This verse is about the 7th time Paul would mention gentleness. We should therefore pay attention.

What is the opposite of gentleness? Aggression, and aggression can be verbal. Having an insatiable desire to argue is not gentle, and planning to harm the other person is not gentle.

And sometimes we want to express gentleness towards some people, and be aggressive towards others.

But Paul said Let everyone see your gentleness, which should never be seen as gullibility.

We are constantly moving in different contexts, facing different people, and encountering different words and attitudes directed at us. Nevertheless, in all contexts, our default should be gentleness.

Paul added: The Lord is near!

We are supposed to be like Jesus, right? He wants us to be like Him. So let’s see what Jesus says about his own gentleness.

Come to me

There is no gentleness when internal rage spills out, the internal hunger that makes us want to devour one another with snide remarks, slander, etc (Galatians 5:15).

When Jesus said that the devil comes and has no power over him (John 14:30), it means He has no sin within as a doorway for Satan.

It may also mean that He has no need that needs to be met by devouring others.

Sin creates a drive to hurt other people and to derive some (even self-justified) satisfaction from it.

Paul calls it the "sin that lives in me (Romans 7:17-20)."

all you who are weary and burdened

Jesus recognized humanity as weary and burdened, meaning carrying a weight of guilt and internal needs/dissatisfaction that can be linked to sin. And the weariness and burden mean we have short fuses, and people fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. We feel constrained/threatened/judged/mocked in our spaces and that is reflected in a life of competition and anger.

and I will give you rest

He is going to free us from weariness and burden. With the gift of rest, we can express the gentleness that Paul is talking about. The gift of rest is what Jesus is talking about here:

The point is that worldly thinking may generate inward restlessness and therefore a lack of gentleness in our approach.

Take my yoke on you and learn from me because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.

Christ invites us into His life and to learn from Him. Rest is finding His heart of gentleness and humility along the path of taking on His yoke, which is working in His kingdom, and making kingdom progress in the direction He is going. This means we are learning from him.

That hints at a process. You cannot learn from Him without serving Him, a lifelong pursuit and engagement with Christ and His things, in the direction that He is going (not doing our own things). And the finding, the discovery of rest for your souls, is the basis for gentleness. That rest is also reflective of a gentle and humble heart.

Paul said the Lord is near!

Paul wants to impress on the people that the reality of the presence of Christ is the hear and now. And that consciousness becomes the fuel of gentleness, and Christ is the reason for the gentleness, i.e. pleasing Him and not ourselves.

From Addiction to Freedom by Favour Oyinloye (repeat)

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Nature Song (December 2025 #2): Experience the Holy Spirit

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Audiobook of the Month (December 2025): The prayer of deliverance: a journey through Psalm 107

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ANSWERS TO BIBLE QUESTIONS: EP. VII: Birthdays and Christmas

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This book lays out the case for the Sufficiency of Scripture, arguing that it is enough to define the life and practice of Christians and the church. It pushes back against both subtle and blatant violations of this tenet, including Tradition, Imagination, Divination, Emotion, Revelations, and Visions (TIDER).
Join the author as he explains:
Passages that prohibit adding to or removing from God’s word.
Scripture has a special quality that sets it apart from anything else that has ever been written or will ever be written.
The need for humility so that we can separate our biases from the truth.
There are consequences for either adding to or removing from God’s word.
How Jesus and Paul argued for the Sufficiency of Scripture.
How the devil is the enemy of the Sufficiency of Scripture, and humans willingly cooperate with him for different reasons.
How, “The Scriptures, as a fixed set of documents, is a shared body of agreed reference that defines the contours of truth,” and not the preacher’s charisma or eloquence.
Holding to the Sufficiency of Scripture one day doesn’t mean the preacher will always do so, hence the call for carefulness.
Why it’s wrong to pit one passage of Scripture against another.
That “humans have been building up reasonings apart from and against the light of God’s truth for centuries.”
Take the journey to deepen your understanding and appreciation for the Sufficiency of Scripture.

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® https://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved