In 2 Timothy 1:7 the Holy Spirit tells us “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but of power, of love and of humility.” God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but isn’t that what Jesus is telling us to do in Matthew 5:5? Is the Holy Spirit contradicting Jesus? No of course not. The apparent contradiction comes because people think that meekness means weakness. Instead, in the Bible, meekness is a form of humility. Therefore you are to practice meekness in all your relationships.

Weakness

Weakness is found in many ways. A kid is bullied all the time because he is too scared or not strong enough to stand up to the bully. A man who cannot make important decisions. A person who is addicted to, alcohol, smokes, drugs or porn. A person who cannot control his anger is a weak person. You can be weak physically, mentally, spiritually or morally. And I would say that at some time or another in the past week each and every one of us showed some form of weakness. The weak man is often full of self-pity. He often tells himself , “You are having a hard time, these people are picking on me, being unkind to me.” A weak man is always asserting his rights. Look around you our society is full of weak people. They may look strong, they may be able to bash people. They may be big and powerful, but according to the Bible, they are weak. What about you? Do you insist upon your rights? Are you worried about what people think of you? These are the thoughts of the timid.

But Jesus is not calling us to be weak! You and I are to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Not weak and timid.

Moses was a weak man. He is the man who killed an Egyptian guard because he was beating up a Hebrew slave. When he found out the many people knew what he had done he fled Egypt to live as a shepherd in the desert. Yet the Bible tells us that he learnt to be the meekest man alive.

Meekness

So what is meekness all about? One of the most difficult things about meekness is that to others it can look like weakness. For example a meek person will try to avoid getting into unprofitable arguments. A meek person will be humble in the way he talks and the way he lives. A meek man is not a coward. Nor is he lazy. Instead a meek man is confident that the Lord God will take care of him and that he can rely upon the grace of God as Psalm 37 tells us.

A meek man is strong enough to not be sensitive about himself. A meek man is not always on the defensive. He is not worried of others opinion of him. He is confident that his worth is in the eyes of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In other words he does not need to defend himself, God is his witness and God will guide him.

A meek man is not caught up in self-pity. A man who is truly meek is the one who is amazed that God and others think of him as well as they do.

Meekness is the natural out working of a man who has purposed to be poor in spirit, and who is capable of mourning over his sins. Because of this a meek man can deal with bullies and whatever else life throws at him.

Are you meek?

Inheriting the Earth

What does Jesus mean when He says that the meek shall inherit the earth? It does not mean that you and I will be guaranteed to own lots of land. It does not guarantee that you will be wealthy in this life. The opposite may in fact be true for you. No this promise is mostly a future one.

However, just like all of God’s promises there is a sense in which the meek inherit the earth now. You see a truly meek man is content here and now. The Apostle Paul was a man like this. He owned very little yet he could say that he possessed all things. If you are meek then you too will be content with what you have even if you are not content with your own spiritual life.

Yet the promise has a future fulfilment. If you are a Christian then you are God’s heir and joint-heir with Jesus Christ. All the riches of heaven are kept for you. You may suffer now, you may even be sorrowful, but when Jesus returns, you shall reign with Him.