The heart is a muscle that pumps blood through your body to bring oxygen to your cells. With oxygen, the cells are able to generate around ten times more energy (anaerobic glycolysis produces 2-4 ATP & aerobic glycolysis generates 36-38 ATP). Like any muscle, it must contract and relax to do its job. In a day, the heart will pump 2,000 gallons of blood. Let’s be clear this thing weighs like 10 ounces. (WebMD)
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What if the heart were not a muscle but hard like bone, would that make it stronger? Of course not. If it were constantly contracted and could never relax, you would not be able to pump blood. If we were hard-hearted, our heart wouldn’t work. A heart of bone would be pointless and make the entire body weak…well dead. But being soft-hearted, our heart can work and deliver life to the body. It is a tender heart that is the strongest.

To look at this metaphorically, the Bible often references the heart as the seat of one’s desires and emotions. It will often describe the heart as either “hard” or “tender”.

What is hard? Stubborn. Selfish. Set on one’s own way.  

What is tender? Attentive to God. Acceptable of change. Selfless. One who is ready to put another person’s needs above their own. Huh, that last one sounded like the definition of love. How ironic. 

We are getting around to our question: Is being gentle a weakness? Gentle falls into the category of tender, I think we can agree. We think of gentleness as being attentive to the needs of others and assertive to another’s emotions. 

You know what gentleness also is? Yup, a Fruit of the Spirit. I like how my pastor once said that the Fruits of the Spirit are descriptions of God’s personality. Jesus even reiterates this and describes His heart as gentle and humble (Matthew 29:11). So why does gentleness kind of sound like it could be a weakness even though it literally describes God?

​Well, this little essay, I will remind you, is written in English probably because it is the only language I speak and possibly the only one you can read. The Bible was not written in English which is odd since Jesus clearly spoke in the King James Version with a thick English accent. But who knows who decided they should write the New Testament in Greek. So “gentleness” was used not with our definition exactly in mind but with the Greek definition for “gentleness”. Yes, I am going to tell you what it is also because it is my favorite word, ever. 

​I still want to say “wow” after I read those last two lines. Probably didn’t have to write anything but that definition to answer the question. But then you wouldn’t have been able to enjoy hearing my voice through the page. You’re welcome.

References:
​1. ​www.webmd.com/heart/features/amazing-facts-about-heart-health-and-heart-disease_
​2. Zodhiates, Spiros, editor. Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible: New International Version, Bonded. Amg Pubs, 2009. ​

A couple of weeks ago I had a conversation where someone brought up this topic. I knew that Good does not need Evil because the Bible says that Good existed in the beginning and Evil came in later. However, I struggled to make a compelling explanation for what I believed, which was unfortunate because I wanted to look intelligent in the conversation.
 
The other morning the topic came back to mind. All of a sudden it clicked. Remember Romans 12:2, “…let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think…” The answer was so simple. Because, as I said before, I was clueless as to this answer for a while, I’m going to be clear I think this was God helping me out….always. 

Can Good exist without Evil? Do they need each other? Does the balance of the universe depend on these two being equal and opposite forces? Here are the terms to keep in mind and the illustration I got for why Good doesn’t need Evil.

Any thoughts or questions? Please post in the comments below.