{"id":286,"date":"2015-08-05T03:41:14","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T03:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anglicanconnection.com\/?p=286"},"modified":"2015-12-09T05:25:36","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T05:25:36","slug":"meekness-in-the-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anglicanconnection.com\/meekness-in-the-bible\/","title":{"rendered":"MEEKNESS IN THE BIBLE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\" style=\"color: #333333;\"><span class='et-dropcap'>C<\/span>ontinuing with Jesus\u2019\u00a0<b><i>Beatitudes<\/i><\/b>\u00a0we read:\u00a0<b><i>\u201cBlessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth\u201d<\/i><\/b>\u00a0(Matthew 5:5).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\" style=\"color: #333333;\"><b>We may be offended when we first read this<\/b>. To say someone is meek implies they are weak or wishy-washy, timid or indecisive. Does Jesus really mean this?\u00a0No! The\u00a0<b><i>meekness<\/i><\/b>\u00a0Jesus is speaking about here is not describing someone who is weak.\u00a0Nor is it to be confused with affability \u2013 someone who is just naturally nice and easy-going.\u00a0\u00a0Meekness in the Bible goes much deeper.\u00a0<b>It is a controlled desire to see the interests of others advanced ahead of our own<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\" style=\"color: #333333;\">We see it, for example, in Abraham\u2019s decision to give Lot first choice in deciding where he would settle his family \u2013 on the infertile highlands or the fertile plains. This is the\u00a0<b><i>meekness<\/i><\/b>\u00a0Jesus is speaking about.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\">TRUE EXAMPLES OF MEEKNESS IN THE BIBLE<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\" style=\"color: #333333;\"><b><i>Numbers<\/i>\u00a012:3<\/b>\u00a0tells us Moses was the meekest man who ever lived. In Numbers 12 we read that when his authority was under attack he refused to defend himself. He remained firm in his commitment to the Lord, waiting for Him to act. You may want to read Numbers 12.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\" style=\"color: #333333;\">But\u00a0<b>it is Jesus Christ himself who is the supreme example of meekness<\/b>. Consider the scene when he was put to death. He was naked, exposed to the vulgar frivolity of the crowd. The soldiers taunted him:\u00a0<i>\u201cIf you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.\u201d\u00a0<\/i>The scene was vicious and degrading. Yet the extraordinary thing is we don\u2019t hear any vindictive cursing from Jesus. Instead he prays:\u00a0<i>\u201cFather forgive them, for they don\u2019t know what they\u2019re doing\u201d<\/i>\u00a0(Luke 23:34).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\" style=\"color: #333333;\">The New Testament continues to stress and exemplify meekness. In 2 Corinthians 10:1 Paul the Apostle uses the example of the meekness and gentleness of Christ to explain the way he endeavored to conduct his ministry. The Corinthians had accused him of being bold in his letters, but weak and timid when he was with them. In their mind he was a weak leader.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\">HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\" style=\"color: #333333;\"><b>It\u2019s never easy to address personal accusations without playing into the hands of critics<\/b>.\u00a0Whatever tone you adopt, they twist it to their own advantage. If you play it strong or weak, they will only say that you are proving their point. Paul, for his part, responded by appealing to the example of Jesus. \u2018My leadership model,\u2019 he said, \u2018is the\u00a0<i>meekness and gentleness of Christ<\/i>\u2019. The timidity they accused him of was his attempt to emulate the graciousness of Christ. But this didn\u2019t mean he didn\u2019t say some tough things in public and on paper.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\" style=\"color: #333333;\">If we allow ourselves to feel the impact of all this, it is the more appalling that meekness does not characterize more of us who claim to be Christians.\u00a0<b>Too often we are more concerned with justifying ourselves than building up one another in our relationship with the Lord Jesus<\/b>. And at church, we are often more committed to giving our opinion about church or its ministry than we are at reaching others with the good news of God\u2019s gospel.\u00a0<b>Tragically, meekness has not been a mark of many of God\u2019s people for a very long time<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\" style=\"color: #333333;\">If, of course, we do try to live out this quality of meekness, our highly secularized and individualistic culture laughs.\u00a0<b>Society says, \u2018Get what you can: You\u2019re a fool if you don\u2019t!\u2019\u00a0<\/b>We\u2019ve created a culture where every individual thinks they are at the center of the universe. This affects how we relate to the seven billion others who operate under a similar delusion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\" style=\"color: #333333;\"><b>True meekness<\/b>. The truly meek see life and relationships through a new lens. \u2018Poor in spirit\u2019 they do not think more highly of themselves that they ought to, for they see themselves and everyone else as under God. When, by the grace of God we learn to think this way, we are able to relate more honorably and graciously with others around us.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ontinuing with Jesus\u2019\u00a0Beatitudes\u00a0we read:\u00a0\u201cBlessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth\u201d\u00a0(Matthew 5:5).\u00a0 We may be offended when we first read this. To say someone is meek implies they are weak or wishy-washy, timid or indecisive. Does Jesus really mean this?\u00a0No! The\u00a0meekness\u00a0Jesus is speaking about here is not describing someone who is weak.\u00a0Nor is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>MEEKNESS IN THE BIBLE - The Anglican Connection<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Meekness in the Bible is a controlled desire to see the interests of others ahead of our own. 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