About Me

What should I say? I hope by reading my blog you come to learn who I am. I always want Christ first in my life. I want to consistently show the fruit of the spirit in my life. I want others to be blessed by what I go through and learn from it.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Seeking Meekness

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7

"The surest way to assure the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" attributed to Edmund Burke

I look at the attitude of so many Christians today and I feel bad for them, because I feel they have gotten it wrong with their attitude on meekness. I know they mean well, and I know they don't want to hurt feelings, and I can appreciate that and I think they're trying to live like they think the Bible tells them to, and I think that is admirable...but I still think they've gotten it wrong. While it is admirable for someone to want to live out what the Bible says, it's extremely important to get that right, and I think that those Christian doormats out there are missing something.

Sure, the Bible says a few things about meek people...Psalm 37:11 "But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity." and Matthew 5:5 "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." to name a few. Two verses that are very similar, but don't really speak to the character of someone who is meek. I think verses like Zephaniah 3:12 speak a bit more to what meekness is; "But I will leave within you the meek and humble. The remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the LORD."

There is a definite similarity between meekness and humility, but I think it is too easy to take them too far. The Bible speaks a lot to forgiveness and humility (and please note, it's not "humbleness" it's "humility") but nothing about being a doormat. If we look at our best example of living a Christ-like life, Jesus, he was by no means a doormat, he very gently made his point, at times like when the woman was caught in adultery, and at times was forceful about it, like when he went tipping over tables in the synagogue.

The key is to find the balance in between being walked all over and being a bull in a china shop. I can't say that I've found that balance, but I know there is one.

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