Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Blessed are those who are meek...

Alright, so last week we covered a pretty confusing beatitude. Hopefully, through the post, you gained a little bit of a better understanding on it. This week, we’re going to talk about the third beatitude.


Matthew 5:3-10 says:


“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed
are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they
will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will
be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are
those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.”


Meekness. What’s that mean? Meekness is like humility. It’s being submissive and teachable. Our world believes the opposite of meekness though. It believes that being self-confident is the way to go. Meekness is weakness to them. They think that getting more and more whether you have a right to or not is what you deserve. Our culture believes that magnifying ourselves and making ourselves important is the priority in life. They think that true happiness is found in that. They think that they will gain the earth if they make themselves bigger. This beatitude is so contradictory to what society thinks we should be!

We see in this verse that none of this is true. We will inherit the earth if we have a meek spirit. If we are submissive to God and His will, we are going to live a life that is pleasing to Him. Meekness doesn’t mean being afraid or reluctant though. Not all meekness is godly meekness. Look at Moses. He had a meek attitude when at the burning bush when God asked him to be his spokesman. You can say he had a humbling, meek attitude in asking God if He had not considered anyone else. In reality, though, it wasn’t. He was being reluctant to obeying God so it wasn’t godly meekness, but more like disobedience. We have to learn to be meek, but when God calls us to do something, be bold. (Confusing, I know :P)


When God says we are going to inherit the earth, it doesn’t mean the one we are living in now. This earth is evil. The earth that we are promised is the one we are going to live in during His Millennial Kingdom. That is the earth we are going to inherit. The earth will be the paradise God designed it to be and we’ll all be living the way He wanted us to live originally.


Notice this verse (Psalm 37:11):


“But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.”


This is the full promise! If we learn to become meek, we are going to inherit the land and God is going to give us peace and prosperity. You see, we will prosper as the world wants us to. The difference is, we’re going about it a different way. We’re doing it in the will of God with his power and strength while the world is doing it in their own strengths.


Christ is the ultimate example of meekness. He was strong, knew His beliefs and did an extremely effective three year ministry, yet He was humble. He died a humbling death, but came back to life with power. Meekness isn’t quietness and cowardliness. It’s boldness, power and strength.


What do you think about meekness?


What thoughts do you have on this verse?



I'd love to hear what you think!

~Sophie :)

1 comment:

  1. Great post Sophie!

    I have to admit that I saw meekness as a weakness. Out of curiosity I looked up the word in the dictionary and among many definitions I found this one. Meek: humble in spirit or manner; I am sure this is what God wants out of us.

    When the Bible says "blessed are the meek" its talking about those who are not puffed up, or are full of pride.

    Like Sophie said, meek doesn't mean not having a backbone. It is simply saying that we are to be humble, and totally willing to succumb, or submit, to the Will of God.

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