May 1

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, — Gal 5:22 BSB

Nature's harshness has melted away, and now she beams with the smile of spring. Everything around us whispers of the gentleness of God. This beautiful season aligns perfectly with the spirit of gentleness, which is its keynote. May the Holy Spirit lead us, beloved, into His sweetness, quietness, and gentleness, subduing every coarse, rude, and harsh habit within us, making us more like Him, of whom it is said, "He shall not strive, nor cry, nor cause His voice to be heard in the streets."

The man who is truly filled with Jesus will always be a gentleman. The woman who is baptized in the Holy Spirit will have the instincts of a perfect lady, even if she was neither highborn nor trained in earthly refinement. Beloved, let us receive and reflect the gentleness of Christ—the spirit of the holy child—until the world can say of us, as the polished infidel Chesterfield once said of the saintly Fenelon, "If I had stayed in his home another day, I would have become a Christian."

Lord, help us today to yield to the gentle Dove-Spirit, that our lives may be as His life.