Blessed are the Meek

It was fun to discuss this verse ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth’ from Matthew 5:5 in a small group of people from my church. We realised that the attitudes in the ‘Beatitudes’ are concerned with relationships. Certainly we can’t be ‘meek’ by ourselves in isolation. As soon as we begin to complain about the arrogance and lack of meekness in other Christians we betray our own lack of this quality. The word ‘meek’ is an archaic one and isn’t used in modern day conversations. Yet it has a certain ring to it which other words don’t. We decided it could be interpreted as humility, gentleness and self control. But it didn’t mean being weak and powerless.

Meekness is a character quality which must come from Jesus Himself. He was bold, powerful and strong and yet He showed self control and was quiet when falsely accused before Pilate. He showed respect towards Pilate because of his position of authority. He spoke to him of the truth and wasn’t frightened yet He didn’t get angry with Pilate.
Jesus described Himself as ‘gentle and humble in heart’ (Matthew 11:29). He didn’t have false modesty, but always spoke the truth.

We shared that it was easy to be self controlled when we were prepared for some kind of disagreement or attack, but much harder when aggression descended upon us unexpectedly taking us unawares. We longed for a godly response to become automatic in our lives.
We wondered what it meant to ‘inherit the earth’. My Good News Bible puts it this way ‘Happy are those who are humble; they will receive what God has promised!’ I learnt that there is an almost identical verse in Psalm 37:11 which says ‘but the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.’ It would seem that Jesus was quoting this verse. If we are acting with a godly self control and in harmony with God’s will for our lives, not trying to use power in a wrong way, then we will be given authority from God. We will be entrusted with possessions, land and money. We will be given protection. There are many passages in the Bible which talk of God’s delight in man’s humility and lack of pride. The outcome is that God will elevate a man or woman like that.

Prayer: Lord, please remind me when I am being proud and arrogant. Help me to change and become more and more like Jesus who is the perfect role model. Help me to have the fruit of the Holy Spirit as a reality in my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.