Many of us have the wrong idea that meekness and gentleness is a demonstration of weakness. We could not be more wrong. Meekness is not that at all. Let us see another important aspect of meekness.
2 – MEEKNESS IS POWER UNDER CONTROL
As we saw in our last article, this word is used for animals whose naturally wild spirits were broken by a trainer so that they could do useful work. It does not mean that those animals are not powerful anymore, no, they still have their strength, but that strength is under control.
- It is not a weakness – Most of the time we have the wrong impression that meek means weak. It is not.
- Moses was meek – The Bible says that Moses was very meek, even though he was a very strong leader.
Num. 12:3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
- Jesus was meek – The Gospel and the Apostle Paul make clear for us that Jesus was meek and gentle.
Matt. 11:29 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.
2Cor. 10:1 ¶ By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you — I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” when away!
- – It is strength tamed – Meekness is strength under control, tamed. We know who we are, and what we are capable of doing, but we, by the grace of God, are able to refrain from doing it.
- Moses got angry – The Bible tells us that Moses got angry when he saw what the people were doing, abandoning God for another god.
Ex. 32:19 ¶ When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.
- Jesus got angry – The Bible also tells us about Jesus getting angry with the moneychangers in the temple. It took Him some time to explode, but He did.
John 2:15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
- It is getting angry and not sinning – Paul says in Ephesians:
Eph. 4:26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
It is clear that we can get angry without sinning. This is when we get angry for the right reason. We should not get angry because of ourselves, but because God and other people who are suffering injustice.
As you can see, my friend, meekness is not synonymous with weakness, we can be strong and meek at the same time. We just need to let the Holy Spirit tame our strength so we can imitate our Lord.
Have a blessed week,
Pastor Lucas