Meek Not Weak

I'm slowly digesting Matthew chapter 5:5 in my Bible.

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" is the verse that has been on my mind.

The word meek will most likely conjure up different ideas, in the minds of different people. What do you think of when you hear the word meek?

Meekness is an attribute or characteristic of someone. I would dare to say, that meekness makes most of us uncomfortable. To be meek in today's world may look like you are weak, or you may fear that to be meek you would have to be weak. Good News! To be meek doesn't mean you are weak at all. Someone who is a very strong person can be meek.

Let's boil it down to this, someone who is a meek person is a humble person. First, it is of most importance to be humble toward God. In order to receive His salvation a person must humble themselves before God and acknowledge that they are a sinner in need of forgiveness from a Holy and Righteous God. It is a meek person who puts their total trust in the sacrifice that Christ Jesus gave, when he shed his blood on the cross for their sins. Not trusting in their own goodness or good works, is taking their own pride out of the equation. When a person does so, they are humbling themselves before God, and putting their total trust in Him. To be meek is to understand your position with God, coming humbly under his authority and plan.

Consider this Bible verse: "This is the on I esteem; he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word" Issiah 66:2. Each of these things mentioned in this verse are meek. To be humble is meek. To be contrite in spirit is to be repentant and sorry for your sins, and that is meek. When I tremble at God's word, I am walking under the authority of God and that is meek.
What about being meek in every day life? I think this is the tougher part.

Let's look again at words that describe meek. When studying this word in my Word Study Bible, I found these words to describe meekness: gentle, humble, considerate, courtesy, variant. I had to look up variant because it wasn't making sense to me in this context. Mr. Webster's dictionary tells me that variant means: something different from others of its kind. Now I get it! When a person is meek, they are different from others, it's not natural but supernatural!

I love to meet meek people and have them as a part of my life. There is a man who comes to my mind when I think of meek. Charles is a gentleman in the Sunday School class that Jeff, my husband, and I attend. Charles is full of Biblical knowledge and wisdom. When he speaks up to share during the class he doesn't promote himself, unlike another person who has a lot of his sentences that start with the word "I". No, Charles isn't about himself, he is about loving and serving Christ Jesus. He is a meek man and I love every chance I get to visit with him.

The Bible teaches to do to others as we would have them do to us. I need to treat others with meekness, just as I would want to be treated. I need to humble myself and consider not only my interest but also the interest of others. I would want others to be considerate and have courtesy with me, I need to do the same. I need to be mindful of others feelings and be gentle in how I respond to people. And right now,at this moment, I'm remembering that I need to even be gentle with my husband, and consider his feelings more. Ouch!

Now let me tell you, at times this is easy and other times I really fail, ask my husband. So for me, I will need to continually work on being meek. Praise God, as a believer in Christ, I have the power of the Holy Spirit to be meek. So, we will work on it together.

Jesus tells us that the meek will inherit the earth. What does it mean to "inherit the earth"? To inherit something means that you get to have something that belonged to someone else who is no longer living. So could this mean that the meek will get to have a future earth when this one passes away? I'm not completely sure what this means. Will I inherit the earth now if I am meek or will it be in the future? In 2 Peter 3:13 it is written, "But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness". I think part of the answer to my question is that if I am meek (remember that the most important act of meekness is toward God), I will inherit a new heaven and a new earth. Oh, what a reward!

I used to sing a song as a teenager at my church. Some of the lyrics are as follows: Make me a servant humble and meek, Lord let me lift up those who are week, And my the prayer of my heart always be, Make me a servant, Make me a servant, Make me a servant, I pray.

I have to be honest with you here. This is hard core stuff, so just give me a little bit more of your time. When I am at my happiest, when I am most fulfilled, when I have the greatest joy, is when I am serving another person for the glory of God. If being a humble and meek servant, as the song lyrics say is the prayer of your heart, then you will find that "sweet spot" in this life!