Title: Meekness/Gentleness

Text: Gal 5:22-223

Date: 12-03-06.am

Gal 5:22-23

22     But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23     gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (NAS)

Gal 5:22-23

22     But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23     Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (KJV) (ASV)

Gal 5:22-23

22     But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23     humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these. (TEV)

Introduction.

Gentleness/ Meekness is not a characteristic that is very “in” these days. One dictionary defines meekness as lacking spirit or backbone; submissive. I think that is the popular understanding of meekness. And it’s no wonder it is not a popular concept. Most of our hero figures in the movies (TV) are tough, strong kind of heros. It’s been years since Sylvester Stallone made the Rambo pictures but you still hear that name used about people. Arnold Swartznegger, Steven Segal, Van Dame their characters are anything but meek. And if we look at the nature of modern video games the idea of meekness if no where to be found. So it’s easy to understand why the concept of meekness is not very popular, even among Christians.

Part of the problem is we just misunderstand what the word really means. The Greek word which is translated meek or gentle was used in Paul’s day to describe the taming and training a horse, that’s the word he used Galatians 5:23.

Our family used to go to Cheyenne every year for the Rodeo and one of the events is Bronc riding. This is the way Wikipedia describes that event: Bronc riding, either as saddle bronc or bareback bronc is a rodeo sport that involves a rider getting on an untamed horse or bronco, weighing between 800 and 1,500 pounds, which is held in a small pipe enclosure called a bucking chute. The rider tightly grips a handle which is strapped to the horse. When the rider says he is ready, the gate of the bucking chute is opened and the horse bursts out and attempts to throw or buck off the rider, the rider has to stay on for 8 seconds.

When a horse is tamed its called breaking, but the horse isn’t really broken, it doesn’t lose its strength, rather its power is channeled in a usable direction. It doesn’t become weak, but its strength is controlled. That’s what the term meekness means “controlled strength” and the biblical meaning is “strength under God ‘s control.

MEEKNESS IN RELATIONSHIP TO GOD

Meekness is first and foremost to be demonstrated in our relationship with God. Meekness is not a lack of strength or courage; it is the fullness of the presence of God; it is humility and submissiveness towards God. Meekness refers to our total dependence on God, our submission to his will and our hope in Him alone for complete salvation. Complete salvation referring to the process of salvation from beginning to end, from the moment we trust Jesus until we see finally see Him face to face.

Meekness (gentleness) means we have an attitude towards God that humbly accepts His relations and dealings with us. It means we know our place before God. We allow ourselves to be used as He sees fit in His plan. We strive to bloom where God has planted us; to do the task He has called us to. It means we have learned to be content with what He provides, and recognize that the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence.

Meekness means we recognize our deep need for God, our need for Him to give direction and purpose to our lives, to be in control of our lives. It means we know our shortcomings and freely admit or confess our sin and understand we don’t have all the answers.

The meek or gentle Christian doesn’t put God in charge on a part time basis, just when things are going well. Meekness accepts that God is in control when things are not good, and meekness lives life without disputing or resisting God. A meek person, despite all the power he or she may have, humbly surrenders to God each day.

We see this attitude reflected in Psalm 37 3-11

3       Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

4       Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart.

5       Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it.

6       And He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday.

7       Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

8       Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret, {it leads} only to evildoing.

9       For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.

10     Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place, and he will not be {there.}

11     But the humble will inherit the land, and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. (NAS)

To us, it would seem, that meekness requires a certain about of self discipline to trust God; to delight in Him, even when things aren’t going well; to wait for Him to act, rather than taking matters into our own hands; to refrain from anger; to not fret. But that’s exactly what God wants us to do. That’s what the Bible means by being meek; to hand over the control of our lives to Him and to remain faithful to Him no matter what.

If you’re like me, and many of you probably are, you don’t have a great deal self-discipline! But, that’s why He has given us His Spirit and that’s why this characteristic is part of the fruit of the Spirit’s presence in our lives and in reality meekness is more about spiritual discipline than self-discipline. It’s about yielding to God rather than self and that’s the goal of faith is more of God evidenced in my life and less of me. That’s what all of us should be striving for. I woefully fall short but I must keep striving towards that goal.

MEEKNESS TOWARDS OTHERS

While meekness is first and foremost to be expressed in our relationship to God. As a result of that relationship it should also express itself in our relationship with others.

Some writers suggest meekness describes our humility and submissive attitude towards God while “gentleness”, describes how we are to relate to one another.

I’m not sure this is politically correct but I believe when we think of gentleness we most often think of it as a sissy term. And I know I’ve been pointing a finger towards the men. Because it at least seems to me, women are more apt to openly display gentleness and meekness than men, we want to be the big tough conquering hero and those are our heros. But this aspect of the fruit of the spirit applies equally to men and women.

Again gentleness or being gentle with one another doesn’t mean we are weak. It is actually an expression of power.

We can afford to be gentle because we are secure in Christ and have the infinite resources of God, the power of His Holy Spirit within us. We don’t have to rant and rave, and be intimidating. Being gentle with one another is not a matter of weakness in fact it’s a high degree of strength. It takes a lot of strength not to punch some one out when they are abusive and you have the physical strength to do it. It takes a lot of strength not to give some one a tongue lashing they will never forget when we have been badly wronged. If you refuse to rant and rage, to lash out, because you trust God will deal with it, then you are showing the fruit of “gentleness.”

Two men in the Bible are described as Meek. First is Moses. A prime example of this was Moses. Now Moses was in no way a weak person. He was a very strong leader. There was a time when he had a temper and was willing to use might - remember him striking down and killing the Egyptian (Ex 2:12). But God had dealt with Moses and he learned “meekness” from his submission to God. So we see in Numbers 12 that Moses maintained his strength as a leader, and while he wasn’t perfect he had learned to willingly accept God’s will and follow God through thick and think and is described in the Bible as being “more meek than any one on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3)

Moses had such a privileged position with God, such as no one had ever again till Jesus came. But he did not stand on his position. He was meek. He trusted God. His power was under God’s control. Are we “meek” like that, or are we still trying to living under our own control?

The second is Jesus. He says in Matt 11:28-29 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. (NAS) the word gentle is the same greek word translated meek.

Jesus is almighty God, God in the flesh, all powerful, able to defeat sin and death and overcome evil. Yet the Bible says He is gentle and humble. Jesus said He didn’t come to be served but to be a servant in other words He was seeking to establish His kingdom through intimidation or tough nosed tactics. He defeated evil sin and death by meekness, by submission. Listen to the words of Peter (1 Peter 2:23, 24) and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting {Himself} to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. (NAS)

Was His submission, His meekness or gentleness a weakness? No way. By Christ’s meekness, his submission and obedience came the way of restoration and reconciliation for all mankind and the entire universe. That’s power under God’s control.

We are left as to be examples. Peter wrote in verse 21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, (NAS)

Humility, gentleness, submission to God, meekness is our calling. It is through meekness we display the nature of Jesus and His work in redemption. It is through meekness we demonstrate how the grace of God works through Jesus. Meekness, is vital when it comes to witnessing for Jesus. Unlike Islam we are not out to conquer the world by the sword but by the truth.

We are to demonstrate meekness in the world and in the church and in the home, remembering It is God who changes hearts, it is the Spirit who gives the new birth that leads to repentance.

Developing meekness in our lives. Since meekness is so important in our lives how do we develop it?

First meditate on the greatness of God.

Isa 40:25-26

25     "To whom then will you liken me that I should be {his} equal?" says the Holy One.

26     Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these {stars,} the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of {His} power not one {of them} is missing. (NAS)

Second, meditate on the humility of Christ. He depended on the Father, submitted to the Father, hoped in the Father and accepted the Father’s will in His life at all times. In developing our gentleness towards other people we should meditate on Philippians 2:1-8 “…Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant… and became obedient to death-even death on a cross.” Look for opportunities to be a servant “even as the son of man came not to be served but to serve.” The best way to witness for Jesus is to live like Him.

Thirdly, depend on the Holy Spirit to develop the “fruit of the Spirit” in you. Pray in all situations. Ask God to transform your character to replace your pride with humility and gentleness. Take deep breaths before speaking and pray for the Spirit’s leading.

Remember, being meek and gentle is not about being weak or being a loser. Jesus said the Matt 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. (KJV)

It’s not about conquering the earth. It’s about inheriting it. Everything is under God’s control and “He gives grace to the humble.” We must allow Him to have His own way in every area of our lives so the Fruit of His Spirit will blossom and bring forth It’s harvest in our own lives. Are you willing to allow Him to transform you?