By patience a ruler is persuaded.
A soft tongue breaks the bone.
-Proverbs 25:15, WEB
We often think that gentleness is weakness, but in truth, gentleness is real strength. It takes great power to control oneself, and only those who have this strength can be patient with the faults and weaknesses of others.
Gentleness also moves us in such a way that violence never could. Oftentimes, no matter how harshly we urge someone to do what we want, we could never move them to do so. However, once we control our temper and speak in such a way as to respect and value the feelings of others, people start to listen to us in a way they never did before.
This is because it is better to influence others through compassion rather than through force. By force, things are done with much resistance and only out of fear of punishment. With love, people are moved from within their own hearts and thereby act strongly because they act according to what they believe in.
There is a power in gentleness we must discover. It is a power that touches hearts, a power that changes people from within the depths of their soul.
The thing about hope is that it’s a positive force that shines the most when it’s dark. When everything’s going well, we hardly notice it’s there. But when things go against us, when our dreams fade and when we see no immediate reprieve from our troubles, that’s when hope does its best work for us.
"Where Hope Can Be Found"