Seeking Meekness

Seeking Meekness

Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may by ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.
Zephaniah 2:3

“Lowliness,” “meekness,” and “longsuffering” are the three “graces” that the apostle Paul mentioned in Ephesians 4:1 – 7 as ways in which we can walk worthy of our calling as Christians. Last week, we considered lowliness; this week we will look at “meekness.”

In the Old Testament “meekness” comes from a root word carrying the ideas of “suffering,” “oppression,” and “affliction.” These ideas denote the spirit produced under such experiences. In the New Testament, “meekness” is viewed as a Christian “grace”; it is one of the “fruits of the Spirit.” It was the spirit of the Saviour Himself: “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matt 11:29). Hence, the gospel idea of meekness presupposes humility; flows from it, and finds expression in moderation. In this respect, one specific Christian behavioural characteristic is: “To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men” (Titus 3:2)

Meekness is a grace that we are to “put on” together with kindness and patience (see Col 3:12) and to show to all: “Let your moderation be known unto all men” (Phil 4:5). To those who embrace and cultivate this grace, God promises great blessings. “The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live forever” (Ps 22:26) and “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way” (Ps 25:9) are two examples.

A.W. Tozer once wrote that the meek man is one “who has accepted God’s estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels.”

What are some of the characteristics of meekness? A cursory survey of the gospel’s teachings on meekness points out at least four, they are:

1) The ability to relingquish one’s rights. A meek person is a wise person who can judge what is right, and is capable of standing up for his rights. If however, there are matters in which he may yield, then he would rather do so than to gain that which is his ultimate right by fighting for it.

2) The willingness to endure injustice. A meek person neither wishes to get even nor to avenge himself - even if he were able to do so.

3) The willingness to forgive injustice. Forgiveness does not merely consist in a refraining from taking vengeance while harbouring animosity and hatred in the heart. Instead, it consists in not holding the offender accountable and in loving him no less than before.

4) The ability to reward evil with good. Someone once said: “To render evil for evil is carnal, to reward good with eveil is devilish, but to reward evil with good is Christian.” The later is true of the meek person.

Beloved, this is the path of wisdom. And if you were to embark upon it, do what the apostle James tells you to do: “show it ... by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom” (James 3:13 niv)

  In Him,
Rev Robert Chew