“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
–Matthew 5:5, ESV
Meekness, one of the beatitudes Jesus brings to light in the Sermon on the Mount, can be hard to grasp because the idea of it seems almost ethereal. Grabbing onto it, and keeping a firm hold of what it means, can feel very much like trying to keep sand from slipping through your fingers.
We see pictures of meekness in Scripture when:
- Jesus tells us to head for the lowest place at the foot of the table instead of the best seat in the house. (See Luke 14:8,9.)
- Jesus speaks about Himself in Matthew 20:28 (nlt) saying, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
But what meekness truly looks like when it is part of who you are and not what you try to do is nothing short of fruit born of the Holy Spirit. Meekness is one of the many facets of agape love.
Meekness does not demand its own way and does not force its opinion to be heard. It is not boastful or proud or rude. When someone is meek, they hold others in honor above themselves. (See 1 Corinthians 13.) A meek person doesn’t need to be the center of attention or the life of the party. The pressure to do a song and dance that pleases the world falls to the wayside pulling pride and arrogance right along with it. Someone who is meek seeks the Lord above all else.
Often we think of being meek as synonymous with being wimpey. The opposite couldn’t be more true. King David, a man after God’s own heart—i.e., he had to be meek—slayed a giant and led the nation of Israel. Moses is described in Numbers 12:3 as being the meekest man on earth. Wow! If that doesn’t knock your socks off giving a new perspective on what meekness practically looks like, I don’t know what will.
In truth, a meek person is a godly person because God sits on the throne of his/her heart. And because of that, when horrible circumstances happen and life doesn’t seem to make sense, people who are meek can be still in the Presence of God trusting Him because they know that He is in control. Nothing comes as a surprise to the Lord.
So let the Lord pull you up by His spiritual bootstraps.
- Look to Jesus who is our strength.
- Look to Jesus who tells us that when we don’t have any faith left, He is faithful and cannot deny Himself. Jesus is our faith. (See 2 Timothy 2:13.)
- Look to Jesus, who with great mercy and love tells us to come to Him because He will give us rest for our souls. (See Matthew 11:28.) Jesus is our rest.
- Look to Jesus, who is the reason why we will one day inherit the earth. Jesus is our meekness and we belong to Him.
Dearest Heavenly Father,
Please change my heart so that Jesus will be more at home there and so the strength of Your meekness will shine through me. Thank You, Lord, that Jesus is my only hope of glory.* Please forgive me when I think I can do anything in my own strength. Instead, …please strengthen me with might by Your Holy Spirit in my inner man so that Jesus may live in my heart by faith. That I will be rooted and grounded** in love and with all the saints I will know the love of Jesus which passes all knowledge so that I will be filled with all the fullness of God.
Thank You, Lord.
In Jesus name,
Amen.
With love,
Kimberly
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.”
-Revelation 21:1-3, nkjv
Well said , Kimberly Thank you, Carlene