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The Third Beatitude.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5, NKJV).
To be ‘meek’ does not mean to be a doormat or to be indecisive, timid, fearful, or spineless. It does not mean to act like a loser or a cowardly wimp.
Meekness is ‘power under control’. The Bible says Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth in his day (see Numbers 12:3).
Yet, he was willing to go toe-to-toe with Pharaoh, to lead a grumbling people across the wilderness, and to climb a smoking, shaking mountain to meet personally with Almighty God.
Jesus described himself as “gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29, NKJV). Yet he was the most courageous man who ever lived.
What made Moses and Jesus meek? They manifested supreme power under control. Proverbs 16:32 (NKJV) describes this kind of power: “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”
Proverbs 25:28 (NKJV) shows the flip side of meekness: “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.”
The meek are those who have the power to hurt but choose not to. They possess the knowledge to destroy someone’s reputation, but they choose not to use it.
They have reason to hate but refuse to act on it. Such people exhibit meekness, which is simply strength harnessed and used to do good. And those who exercise meekness walk in God’s blessing.
The meek persevere until good overcomes evil, answers are found, remedies are generated, and reconciliation overcomes estrangement. And the meek sleep well at night – because their trust is in the Lord!
By Alfred Nyamekye
