Meekness? Oct. 2009

It was little Billy’s first day at the new church and as he was walking into Sunday school he noticed that the kids were all staring at him and whispering among themselves. Billy knew what they were whispering about-since his Dad died six months ago, his mom had been working hard to make ends meet and they had to move to an apartment. Billy wasn’t dressed like the rest of the children there-his wrinkled mis-fitting shirt and tennis shoes were out of place amongst the well dressed children that were there. Billy felt embarrassed at his appearance and one of the kids in his class sneered and said, “Hey, new guy, nice high waters.” The girls giggled at this and Billy started to think of how to respond to the mean words. He knew what his mother taught him, “Remember what the Jesus said about the meek: ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth’,” (King James Version; Matt. 5:3-4). Billy decided to do the right thing and respond in a Christian way, “It’s the new thing; high waters are in vogue right now, you should get some for yourself.”




Okay, so maybe the example was a little silly, but the importance of meekness definitely is not silly at all. Throughout the Bible, the meek are the ones who will literally the ones who will win in the end (Ps. 37:5-11, James 1:19-21). John Piper paints a portrait of the meek person thusly:

1. They Trust in God (Ps. 37:5b)

2. They Commit Their Way to God (37:5a)

3. They are Quiet Before God and Wait for Him (Ps. 37:7a)

4. They Don’t Fret Over the Wicked (Ps. 37:7b)

To contrast this with the angry man, the meek may seem to the world to be the losers, week, and easily trodden over, but like Christ laid His life for us, and in doing so saved mankind from the everlasting fires of Hell, we can show love to our enemies by not answering in kind when we are sinned against.



Jesus Christ knew that if we were to be followers of Him that we were going to be persecuted. In order to show His love and to be an effective light in this dark world, we need to answer evil with good and be meek. Jesus, on the sermon on the mount said this and I feel it applies to today’s Christian striving to be Christ like and repaying evil for good in a meek fashion, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt. 5:12). The rewards we will reap will be in Heaven, and those are everlasting, not temporal.



Works Cited

Piper, John. "Blessed are the Meek." Desiring God. 9 Feb. 1986. n. pag. Web. 22 Sep 2009. .

"Passage Lookup." Bible Gateway. 2009. Web. 12 Oct 2009. .