"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you
to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with
gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that
those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ
may be ashamed of their slander" (1Pe Christians should respond
with care. "Gentleness" (or "meekness") is the quality that
trusts God to do the work of changing attitudes (2Ti 2:24-25; cf
also Pro 15:1: "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh
word stirs up anger"). "And the Lord's servant must not quarrel;
instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not
resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the
hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a
knowledge of the truth" (2Ti 2:24,25). In its use in Scripture,
"prautes" (gentleness) has a fuller, deeper significance than in
nonscriptural Greek writings; it consists not in a person's
"outward behavior only; nor yet in his relations to his fellow-
men; as little in his me