The Beatitudes: Meekness
5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Praus is the Greek word for ‘meek.’ It means to be mild, gentle, humble, kind, and forgiving. (God’s Word) Simply put, meekness is a position of humility in the presence of others.
Being meek in the Spirit is taking on the mind and attitude of Christ who did not think highly of Himself or only of Himself. Although He was as God, He humbled Himself as a child, being obedient to His Father. Jesus understood His need for His heavenly Father’s love, kindness, protection, guidance, and correction as He walked among God’s people. He knew the brokenness of others and their need for grace, so He rendered compassion and understanding instead of judgment and shame. While among many who sinned and did wrong, Jesus kindly and gently, with compassion, exercised His power in God without condemning those He was sent to save. He continued to be meek even unto death on the cross when He prayed to the Father to “forgive them for they know not what they do.” [Luke 23:34; Philippians 2:7]
In our study of Matthew 5:4, we learned that sin is, simply, missing the mark of perfection that is outlined in God’s standards for our lives. Everyone falls short of this standard, and we receive forgiveness for our mistakes by grace. When others sin, they are missing the mark. When we sin, we are missing the mark. Therefore, we understand that we’re in no position to blame or condemn others. We cannot forget that even as Believers, we too are constantly in a battle between flesh and Spirit. Although we have Christ in us, we are still dependent on His saving grace every moment of the day.
When we are meek in the Spirit, we are positioned in the same way Christ was. We understand our need for our heavenly Father’s generosity and our inability to save our own souls. We realize that we are not perfect, so we aren’t in a position to judge or treat others harshly for not being that way themselves. We are gentle with ourselves because we are redeemed, and we are gentle with the people around us because they can be redeemed. This is why meekness must follow mourning. Mourning comes from an honest evaluation of how wrong we all can be, which results in divine comfort in the Spirit knowing that through Christ we have redemption and are made right. Not one of us is able to firmly stand, to fully believe, have unexplainable joy and peace, know perfect love, have divine protection, receive eternal salvation, and live life fully apart from God. We are all sinners saved by grace and the disciple’s position of meekness shows that we remember that.
The world is full of temptation and we all have the ability to let our eyes lead our minds and hearts astray. The loudness of the world can overpower the whisper of truth that every single eternal promise cannot be “yes” without Christ — there is no way because He is the way. He is the perfect and righteous atonement for each of us when we accept Him. Humility reminds us that we cannot do it on our own. Because of the forgiveness at the cross, Christ wants us to humble ourselves as disciples of His Word. We make ourselves teachable unto God so we can learn and understand Him more clearly. We make ourselves obedient to God so we can do the work He has set before us. We admit our faults so the Holy Spirit can deliver conviction that inspires change and cancels shame.
We let go of the ego that tells us we are right while others are wrong. We shut up the desire to take the lead and be in control. We accept that we are all in the same boat and in need of our Saviour. We put on Christ’s humility, which is found in His Holy Spirit, and say, “Lord, take the lead,” and we say it every single day we wake up because “meekness is a very deliberate, proactive thing, not an inevitable, passive thing.” ("God’s Word”)
they shall inherit the earth.
This isn’t a promise of total dominion and great conquest over the world. This inheritance is a promise of power and significant influence in the Spirit!
When you put on Christ’s humility, you are telling the Holy Spirit to take the lead in your life. The Holy Spirit is the same Spirit of the living God who demonstrated His power throughout the Bible.
In the Old Testament, we learn that God made the entire universe with His words, created mankind from dirt, gave a child to a couple well past the age of conception, made a barren woman a birthing woman, helped a young boy kill a giant with a pebble, gave a man strength to kill armies, talked through a burning bush, parted the sea, made bread fall from heaven, saved three boys who stood in the middle of a furnace of fire and didn’t let them burn, and revealed to all of the prophets that Christ was coming — but let’s not stop here.
In the New Testament, we learn about all of the miraculous works Jesus performed in His walking life on earth. He healed the sick, caused the lame to walk, gave the blind sight, cast out demons, fed thousands with a small lunch, walked on water, raised the dead back to life, caused storms and hurricanes to stop, healed a woman who bled for twelve years, and saved millions of souls that were long gone and the ones still living — but let’s not stop there.
That same power that did all of those things, and so much more raised Christ from the dead and saved us all! That same power is a guaranteed deposit to all of those who are called, and you’re called when you give your life to God.
Have you ever been around a person whose presence is like a magnet? They carry an air of peace, joy, and kindness about them that, when they aren’t there, you can tell because the atmosphere is changed. THAT is only a small glimpse of what the power of the presence of God is like. A greater sphere of influence that can command peace in unpeaceful situations and calm in the midst of chaos. It can speak to storms and tell them to stop, rid the presence of every enemy in the name of Jesus, and do even more than Christ did for the people in the world. [John 14:12]
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