We scoff, in our society, at gentleness. It is a virtue we smile at in young children, and admire (maybe) in the elderly, and hope to find in selected clergy members. But we don't really value it as we should, not even in the Church.
We prefer fiery personalities, the preacher pounding on the pulpit or the lay member vividly arguing for the faith in the public. We think, "Good, they have spirit!" We love, absolutely love, funny characters....the preacher who can make us laugh, or the guy who sits in the third row every Sunday who tells the best jokes after service; those people are treasured! Serious and sober has its place within the body of Christ, and we honor that (even if some people don't want to invite said serious and sober over to a gathering) with due deference. But we look upon the meek and mild, the gentle and kind and rather tilt our heads, so to speak, about what to do with them.
Don't they have more spunk? Why do they let others get credit for what they do? (And often we ask, what do they do for the Lord? They just go about their quiet lives, they're not making a big splash as far as we can see.)
But I'll tell you who values gentleness...and that is God. And His opinion outranks all of ours. How do I know? Well consider that His Son, Christ Jesus, very God of very God, part of the Triune Godhead, through whom all things were made, chose to walk amongst us in gentleness and love. He who was tortured and died upon the cross for our salvation went meekly as a lamb.
Christ Himself told us that the gentle, the meek, are blessed. "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5, the Beatitudes.) The Greek word translated “meek” is praeis and refers to mildness, gentleness of spirit, or humility. Moses, Numbers 12:3, describes himself as the meekest of men, and Christ, our role model in everything, is described as "meek and lowly in heart" in Matthew 11:28–29.
"The meek are those who are gentle, humble, and unassuming, simple in faith and patient in the face of every affront. Imbued with the precepts of the gospel, they imitate the meekness of the Lord, who says, "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart."
St. Chromatius, Tractate on Matthew
The Bible, in verses throughout the New Testament, continues to show how gentleness, or meekness, will be found in followers of Christ, and how we should strive to grow in that underrated virtue.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23
"So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;" Colossians 3:12
"But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy." James 3:17
Believers are called to share the gospel message in gentleness and meekness. First Peter 3:15 instructs, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” The KJV translates the word for “gentleness” here as “meekness.”
So why do we dismiss the gentle and meek of heart so easily? Why do we, as believers in our modern era, put such higher importance on being forceful, confrontational, fiery and assertive? (That is not to say that one should not be assertive for the Lord, but rather to balance how to do so while still acting with gentleness and respect. Too many are assertive without the gentleness.) Why have we allowed gentleness, so valued in the eyes of God, to be put on the back shelf as a virtue seldom extolled in our churches and Bible studies?
I believe it is because we have allowed the world to influence us too much. Our society champions the abrasive, the loud, the flashy, the assertive and mocks the quiet and meek. Our sports stars are glamorized not only for athletic ability but for their larger than life personalities, which are often displayed in negative fashion. We have made household names out of "stars" that do nothing more than live tabloid lives in brazen, tawdry style. We love, in our culture, law shows where people thunder away in closing arguments, and honor "preachers" who live glamorous lives and have entertainment style services. There is no room for the gentle on the world's stage, they simply get pushed to the side.
"The Scriptures make much of meekness … and so it is the more appalling that meekness does not characterize more of us who claim to be Christians. Both at the personal level, where we are too often concerned with justifying ourselves rather than with edifying our brother, and at the corporate level, where we are more successful at organizing rallies, institutions, and pressure groups than at extending the kingdom of God, meekness has not been the mark of most Christians for a long time."
D. A. Carson, The Sermon on the Mount
But this world isn't our focus. We're waiting for the time when Christ will come and reclaim what is His, and the old will pass away and the new shall stand forever. When this sorry, broken world is made anew, and we are under the glorious reign of Christ forevermore....it is the gentle and meek, the humble of heart, who shall inherit the earth.
"The renewal of the earth begins at Golgotha, where the meek One died, and from thence it will spread. When the kingdom finally comes, the meek shall possess the earth."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship.
While there are those, even within the Church, who mock the meek and gentle, it is the Lord's approval we should ever seek. He values gentleness of heart and meekness of spirit; and promises those who live in such a way shall inherit the earth. God is faithful and His Word is sure; the question then becomes...is that the inheritance you want?
If so, then seek to cultivate a gentle heart, to love as Christ did, and to humble yourselves to serve God and neighbor. Striving for power, honor and prestige is not the path to being blessed as Christ taught in the Beatitudes. Meekness is.
May you be blessed my friends, and may you choose to be a blessing unto someone else,
-Beth Haynes Butler
We prefer fiery personalities, the preacher pounding on the pulpit or the lay member vividly arguing for the faith in the public. We think, "Good, they have spirit!" We love, absolutely love, funny characters....the preacher who can make us laugh, or the guy who sits in the third row every Sunday who tells the best jokes after service; those people are treasured! Serious and sober has its place within the body of Christ, and we honor that (even if some people don't want to invite said serious and sober over to a gathering) with due deference. But we look upon the meek and mild, the gentle and kind and rather tilt our heads, so to speak, about what to do with them.
Don't they have more spunk? Why do they let others get credit for what they do? (And often we ask, what do they do for the Lord? They just go about their quiet lives, they're not making a big splash as far as we can see.)
But I'll tell you who values gentleness...and that is God. And His opinion outranks all of ours. How do I know? Well consider that His Son, Christ Jesus, very God of very God, part of the Triune Godhead, through whom all things were made, chose to walk amongst us in gentleness and love. He who was tortured and died upon the cross for our salvation went meekly as a lamb.
Christ Himself told us that the gentle, the meek, are blessed. "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5, the Beatitudes.) The Greek word translated “meek” is praeis and refers to mildness, gentleness of spirit, or humility. Moses, Numbers 12:3, describes himself as the meekest of men, and Christ, our role model in everything, is described as "meek and lowly in heart" in Matthew 11:28–29.
"The meek are those who are gentle, humble, and unassuming, simple in faith and patient in the face of every affront. Imbued with the precepts of the gospel, they imitate the meekness of the Lord, who says, "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart."
St. Chromatius, Tractate on Matthew
The Bible, in verses throughout the New Testament, continues to show how gentleness, or meekness, will be found in followers of Christ, and how we should strive to grow in that underrated virtue.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23
"So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;" Colossians 3:12
"But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy." James 3:17
Believers are called to share the gospel message in gentleness and meekness. First Peter 3:15 instructs, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” The KJV translates the word for “gentleness” here as “meekness.”
So why do we dismiss the gentle and meek of heart so easily? Why do we, as believers in our modern era, put such higher importance on being forceful, confrontational, fiery and assertive? (That is not to say that one should not be assertive for the Lord, but rather to balance how to do so while still acting with gentleness and respect. Too many are assertive without the gentleness.) Why have we allowed gentleness, so valued in the eyes of God, to be put on the back shelf as a virtue seldom extolled in our churches and Bible studies?
I believe it is because we have allowed the world to influence us too much. Our society champions the abrasive, the loud, the flashy, the assertive and mocks the quiet and meek. Our sports stars are glamorized not only for athletic ability but for their larger than life personalities, which are often displayed in negative fashion. We have made household names out of "stars" that do nothing more than live tabloid lives in brazen, tawdry style. We love, in our culture, law shows where people thunder away in closing arguments, and honor "preachers" who live glamorous lives and have entertainment style services. There is no room for the gentle on the world's stage, they simply get pushed to the side.
"The Scriptures make much of meekness … and so it is the more appalling that meekness does not characterize more of us who claim to be Christians. Both at the personal level, where we are too often concerned with justifying ourselves rather than with edifying our brother, and at the corporate level, where we are more successful at organizing rallies, institutions, and pressure groups than at extending the kingdom of God, meekness has not been the mark of most Christians for a long time."
D. A. Carson, The Sermon on the Mount
But this world isn't our focus. We're waiting for the time when Christ will come and reclaim what is His, and the old will pass away and the new shall stand forever. When this sorry, broken world is made anew, and we are under the glorious reign of Christ forevermore....it is the gentle and meek, the humble of heart, who shall inherit the earth.
"The renewal of the earth begins at Golgotha, where the meek One died, and from thence it will spread. When the kingdom finally comes, the meek shall possess the earth."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship.
While there are those, even within the Church, who mock the meek and gentle, it is the Lord's approval we should ever seek. He values gentleness of heart and meekness of spirit; and promises those who live in such a way shall inherit the earth. God is faithful and His Word is sure; the question then becomes...is that the inheritance you want?
If so, then seek to cultivate a gentle heart, to love as Christ did, and to humble yourselves to serve God and neighbor. Striving for power, honor and prestige is not the path to being blessed as Christ taught in the Beatitudes. Meekness is.
May you be blessed my friends, and may you choose to be a blessing unto someone else,
-Beth Haynes Butler
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