Episode 13 Meekness is not Weakness
Today we are going to talk about the eighth fruit of the Spirit, meekness-what it is, how Jesus was the perfect example of meekness yet strong, not weak and we will ask the question: Are we meek yet strong like Jesus? This is Stephanie Wright. Let’s talk about how meekness empowers us through the Holy Spirit.
Meekness is not weakness. It is the eighth fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:23 and is defined, in part, as humility, gentleness, and mildness. We also think of someone being meek when they are kind and they respect others. But, too often people equate meekness with weakness when it is just the opposite. When we exercise the fruit of meekness we really show discipline and strength and thus empowerment through the Holy Spirit. We will look to Jesus, our perfect example of meekness and power in today's presentation.
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Episode 13 Meekness is not Weakness
Today we are going to talk about the eighth fruit of the Spirit, meekness-what it is, how Jesus was the perfect example of meekness yet strong, not weak and we will ask the question: Are we meek yet strong like Jesus? This is Stephanie Wright. Let’s talk about how meekness empowers us through the Holy Spirit.
Meekness is not weakness. It is the eighth fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:23 and is defined, in part, as humility, gentleness, and mildness. We also think of someone being meek when they are kind and they respect others. But, too often people equate meekness with weakness when it is just the opposite. When we exercise the fruit of meekness we really show discipline and strength and thus empowerment through the Holy Spirit.
Let’s look to Jesus, our perfect example of meekness and power. We need to go no farther than the gentleness and kindness he showed to those He protected and healed to see meekness. The woman caught in adultery whom He did not condemn but whose life he spared; the woman at the well whom He did not chastise for being married five times but instead gave living water; the Samaritan woman whom He did not cast aside but answered her cry for her daughter who was afflicted to be healed; the Roman soldier (Centurion), an enemy of the Jews, whose servant Jesus nevertheless healed. And the examples of his meekness, gentleness and humility go on, and on. Yet, we know Jesus was not weak even though He was meek. We know this from the suffering He endured. Beaten with a whip, slapped in his face, spat upon, mocked, and of course, nails pounded into His hands and feet then displayed naked on a cross until he died. Matthew 26:67, Mark 14:65; John 19:3, Luke 22:63, Matthew 27:33-50. How many of us could have withstood such torture and considered ourselves weak? I would have passed out before the whip hit my back the first time.
But, lest we forget, there was a side to Jesus before His crucifixion that definitely was not viewed by others as being weak. Remember, when he found the moneychangers and others selling oxen and sheep and doves in the temple and He made His own whip of small cords, called a scourge, and beat them out of the temple, overthrew the tables and told them His Father’s house was a house of prayer but they had made it into a den of thieves (Matthew 21:12; John 2:13-16). And let’s not forget about those Pharisees and Sadducees. He did not hold back on them. He called them vipers (Matthew 3:7) and said they were like “whited sepulchers, appearing beautiful on the outside but full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness.” Matthew 23:27. So, He did not appear to be meek at those times, but let’s not get our meekness confused with being strong, firm, and honest. A person can still be meek yet strong and resolute especially when it comes to their commitment to what is right. Jesus showed us how to be strong, yet meek. So, we should be careful how we view others and not judge a book by its cover, as the expression goes.
So, what about us? We see that Jesus, who was full of the Holy Ghost, was meek yet powerful. He didn’t have to take the abuse he endured but He did it because He was humble and He loved us and knew we could not be reconciled to the Father if He did not go through what He went through. Philippians 2:8, says, Jesus “being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” But do you remember what He said in Matthew 26:53, presumably to Peter who had just lopped the soldier’s ear off with the sword? Jesus said, don’t you know I could pray to my Father and he would give me more than 12 legions of angels (a legion being between 3,000 to 6,000 or 36,000 to 72,000 angels). So, tell me that’s not humility. Take all that abuse and not summon 72,000 angels to destroy his enemy? But, we can’t keep our mouths shut when someone offends us over something that won’t amount to a hill of beans the next minute.
We are filled with the same Holy Ghost that Jesus was filled with so why aren’t we as meek as He is. We have the same Holy Ghost power because when we became believers or when you become a believer and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, you are empowered with meekness and all the fruit of the Spirit. As explained in an earlier episode in this series, it is one fruit of the Spirit, not fruits (with an “s”) of the Spirit. You receive meekness along with love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, and self-control all at the same time. We receive all the fruit and we don’t get to pick and choose which one we receive. We have it and it then becomes not a matter of do I have meekness, it is whether I will exercise meekness, put it into action or not.
So, why do some of us not exercise meekness or humility? I say some of us because my husband and I were able to name at least five or six people who right now we would consider meek. We have always seen a humble spirit in them. They have always exhibited humility and meekness even when there have been circumstances in which they would have been justified not being meek. I think it is an individual question each of us has to answer on our own as to why we don’t operate in the Spirit of meekness as we should.
I think, personally, that we are selective in our meekness. By that, I mean, if it is someone we have an issue with or a circumstance we find ourselves in that we do not like, we may not want to be meek. Or, we may harbor unforgiveness toward someone and choose not to be meek or humble with them. Perhaps fear of being viewed as weak and then being stepped on prevents us from being meek. But perfect love casts out fear. So, the root of not being meek or humble is linked to a lack of perfect love. If you have God’s agape love, you will forgive and if you have perfect love, you will not be afraid to be meek. Pride also may keep us from being meek. So, developing love and that perfect love which is what Jesus had, should help us to operate in the fruit of meekness.
We should want to be meek because meekness will draw souls to Christ quicker than being proud, unforgiving, or fearful of being meek. I recently heard a testimony of a woman who endured a pastor being very unkind to her child. That is an understatement really. The pastor berated this woman’s child openly only because the pastor did not want their position as pastor to be challenged or to be threatened. This mother because of her humility endured this pain until the Lord released her to leave that church. The son went on to become a powerful minister of God’s Word. That is an example of why we have to be meek like Jesus in the midst of pain and suffering. Our meekness empowers us and others. Humility helps us through humiliation and we emerge empowered and with God’s honor.
We should want to be meek because Jesus said the meek are blessed for they shall inherit the earth - meekness yet strength is seen in this scripture. Jesus also said in Matthew 18:4, that we have to humble ourselves as a little child if we are to be great in the kingdom of heaven (again meekness and power are seen in this scripture). He said a lot more in those verses (Matthew 18:3-10), that is worthy of reading especially because He said we would experience offenses (challenges to our meekness), they were going to come, but we better be careful how we treat the “little ones.” Not just children but, I believe, those who have little faith. We have to be meek when we may not want to be meek and we can through the power of the Holy Spirit. A meek spirit encourages us to step back and not give place to pride. Humility requires us to defer to others when would prefer putting ourselves first.
This podcast has helped me make an assessment of myself and to strive to be meeker, more humble. I hope it will help you too to do some critical thinking about meekness. That you will understand that being meek does not imply weakness but that you can be empowered when you let the Holy Spirit work the fruit of meekness in you.