Blessed Are The Meek

“God blesses those who are gentle and lowly, for the whole earth will belong to them.” Matthew 5:5 (NLT)

I like this translation of the beatitude of meekness. In earlier times I translated meekness with being timid and non-effective. My ‘attitude of this beatitude’ was more of a doormat translation. I should allow others to walk over me and give in to everything to obtain their approval. This is not the definition of meekness. The Greek translation is gentle, the positive moral quality of dealing with people in a kind manner, with humility and consideration. The Hebrew translation is humble, afflicted, poor, oppressed.

When Jesus lowered Himself to the floor to wash the dusty sandals of the disciples, He understood what it was to be meek. He understood that He came to earth in a servant role to exemplify the walk that God blesses. His gentleness was apparent as He surrounded Himself with the weak, needy and sick.

For me, 2010 was a year of meekness. It was year that God gently lowered me to my knees in desperation and made me well-acquainted with my flaws. He introduced me to things about myself that were unlovely and encouraged me to leave them behind. He proved to me over and over again that I make a sorry savior and that to ‘inherit the earth’ I must live out a life of total surrender. In my Bible Study, the author wrote a prayer to God that summed up my prayer for us all as we bid farewell to 2010 and wrap ourselves in the garment of 2011. May it bless you in the same way it blessed me.

God, today it’s just me, part of the way there, but so much further to go. It’s just me in both my desire and my weakness. It’s just the woman You made, still in process, not yet the woman You must have envisioned. Show Yourself to me today. Please take this offering and make everything I’m not more than enough because You live inside me. Amen.

There is a promise of cause and effect stated in Psalm 38:11, 'But the meek with inherit the land, and enjoy great peace. When we approach life with this meekness of spirit we enter into His land of peace. This land stands up to the tornodos of life and continuously produces in times of drought. My grandmother was the epitome of meekness in her humility, gentleness and servant’s heart. At 100, she said to me that she was still working on her faith. She too believed she was a work of God still in process…now that comes in for the blessing!