THE BEATITUDES – PART 4

 

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

 

And the world system points to the above statement as being folly. How can the meek inherit the earth? It is the strong, powerful individuals, the movers and shakers, who rule the earth. Or so they think, for their time is but short, and then what? The world equates meekness with weakness, and we should not buy into that lie.

Jesus has taken the people on a road of learning how to be more Christlike. He has told them that they need to have a humble attitude, coming before God as sinners with repentant hearts. He tells them how they should conduct themselves within society.

Be of a gentle disposition, as Titus puts it: “… be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men” (Titus 3:2 NIV), and he ends this discussion with: “… so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone” (Titus 3:8 NIV).

As we come to understand this word meek, we see that it is based on the Greek word praüs [prah-ooce], and it takes us down the path of being mild [humble]. It also has close ties with the Greek word praiŏs [prah-ot-ace], implying gentle and humble. We can closely link this with the word gentleness, one of the Fruit of the Spirit. Gentleness is an inward grace and is expressed by submitting one’s strength in a humble manner, for it is a character trait founded upon God’s love.

But how do the meek inherit the earth? If we are looking for that inheritance in a tangible way, we are not likely to find it. If we look for that inheritance with spiritual eyes, we shall be able to see it and grasp it, for it can be viewed in 1 Timothy 4:8 NIV: “… godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” It is knowing that we do live in strife, and therefore, we find our demeanour to be acceptable to ourselves and to Christ.

Jesus, in sharing with His disciples, tells them: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29 NIV).

As we follow Jesus’ leading, we want to become meek, for from that will come a blessing [happiness], knowing that Jesus will be smiling upon us, and having Jesus smile upon us is worth far more than anything this world has to offer.

Let us come alongside each other as we practice meekness/gentleness amongst each other, and then once learnt, and we have that as a character trait, we can have that as a fruit on our tree. See the Walk of Righteousness series on the website.