“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5)
In finishing with the teaching on meekness, it seemed as if it would be helpful to bring attention to the massive biblical theology and practices that are the foundation of the possession and practice of meekness. Meekness is not just something that a person sees that needs to be done and so works up the internal fortitude to be calm and nice while verbal or physical abuse is being poured out on him. Meekness is not something that the natural man can work up; it is the life of Christ in the person. It is the fruit of the Spirit and is the result of love as we have seen.
If it is a correct position, and it would be hard to deny it from Scripture, that meekness is inseparable from love, then we must look at the connection between meekness and the Great Commandments. The Greatest Commandment is to love God with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. The Second Greatest Commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Meekness flows out of a love for God and then the neighbor. In fact, it is the working out of the love for God that comes when the Spirit pours out the love for God in the heart of man (Romans 5:5ff). It is the believer receiving the love of God which is love for God and that love flowing back toward God and toward those made in His image. The Great Commandments come to all of humanity and command man to love God and the neighbor all of the time. This command is explained in various ways throughout Scripture. We are told by Jesus to love our enemy (Mat 5:42-48). Beyond any real question this falls under the Great Commandments and is seen as meekness in returning good for evil as Paul teaches us in Romans 12:17-21). The only way to return good for evil and to love an enemy is to have meekness.
We also see an aspect of meekness in relation to the Great Commandment and the sovereignty of God. The root of meekness is intensely theological since it is really the life of Christ in us but also all that happens to a person is brought by the hand of God. We see the great promise of Romans 8:28 as resting on the sovereignty of God: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Part of meekness, then, is the realization that God is the One who has ordained that this happen and for good causes. The way we react to situations shows our real belief in the sovereignty of God. We know from Hebrews 12:4-11 that God disciplines His children by bringing trials upon them. He does this so that they may share in His holiness (Heb 12:10). He does it for His glory which is their real good.
If the points from the previous paragraph are true (and they are), then we can see that God is at work in His children to make them like Himself and share in His holiness. Part of being holy is to be delivered from being self-centered and focused on self. God brings trials and hard things on His people to deliver them from their selfish hearts and to give them Himself. In doing this He teaches them to focus on Him and others in love. In doing this He teaches them to rely on the love from Him and for Him rather than to respond based on selfish considerations. So when the growing believer is met with the trials of persecution, the believer learns to look at the trial and know that perhaps the other person intends evil but God intends good by it. So the believer learns to love God and look to God for love instead of responding according to selfish considerations. This clearly shows that meekness has a foundation in the character and sovereignty of God.
If we want to say that meekness is a virtue or learned behavior that is in the power of man, then we must think of meekness in a different light altogether. It then becomes self-effort that depends on the power of the individual being persecuted. That makes it a work that depends on how much self-love a person has instead of how much love for God and neighbor that a person has. The differences are dramatic between a meekness that flows from the character of a sovereign God and that which comes from the self. It is no less than the difference between Christianity and the idolatry of self.
We also see meekness as possible within the framework of the sinfulness of man. Scripture speaks of sin as being the worst thing in the universe. It is because of sin that the wrath of God abides on people. It is because of sin that there is a hell which is the lake of fire which is where there will be eternal torments. But all of that is because of sin. If sin makes me so bad that I deserve the everlasting wrath of God in eternal torments, then nothing worse can be said about me. This means that meekness is made easier by realizing that I am so poor in spirit (first beatitude) that no human can insult me. The worst thing about me is my sin and no other human being can really know the depths of my own sin. So when another person calls me names, I should realize that regardless of their intent their names are actually compliments to me in terms of what I really am. Meekness flows out of poorness of spirit (how I view my own righteousness) and mourning for my own sins and those of others. A perfectly meek heart would not be able to be insulted. This is not from weakness, but is from the strength of true love (as in Christ). This is the strength that will also speak out for the glory of God even when it will bring more persecution.
A meek heart also relies on the true intents and motives. The Great Commandment is also stated in different ways in Scripture. I would think that it is clear that the command to do all to the glory of God falls underneath the Great Commandment. The intents and motives of believers, then, should be to do all to manifest the glory of God in them. As we come down to a practical level, when we are insulted or persecuted our response will either be out of love for the glory of God or out of a love for selfish me. If my true desire is to manifest the glory of God, then I will respond with meekness which shines the meekness of Christ and the power of the love of God to all that see it. If my true desire is to preserve my selfish honor before men, then I will let my selfishness shine out and unbelievers will not question what I have done. After all, it will be said, the other person deserved it. Perhaps, but what did God deserve in that situation? He deserved for His glory to be seen in that situation and not my selfish and sinful desire to maintain my honor before others.
Another of the theological issues here is the indwelling Christ and the lordship of Christ. It is the life of Christ that is in the believer and the believer has no right to himself to act in any way that is not honoring to Christ. The believer is to seek to be like Christ which is really another way of saying that it is Christ in us that is to live through us. In common parlance, “what would Jesus do?” In one sense that is not a good question since we are not God in human flesh, but in another sense it is a good question since believers are the body of Christ and Christ is the very life that is in them. When we ask what would Jesus do, we need to think of it as what would the life of Christ in me want to work through me. That is a very different question.
It is not that believers have the right to determine what they do; they are to be guided by the life and words of Christ. How would Christ have responded to the person persecuting me if they were persecuting Him? We know how He would have responded by His prayer for those who crucified Him to be forgiven. We must also recognize that believers are the body of Christ and how we are treated is how He is being treated. We must also realize that how we treat others in one sense is how Christ is treating them. We are letters from Christ and we spread the aroma of Christ and the Gospel to those we are around. Christ is seen in and through the meekness of His people.
We should also consider the New Covenant teaching of the temple of God. Believers are the temple of God and that means that they are not their own and should not behave as their own. Christ has purchased them with His precious blood and not with worthless things like gold or silver (I Peter 1:17ff). This means that the believer is owned by another and is in no sense his or her own. The believer has no right to treat the temple as if it is his or her own. It is the dwelling place of God and it is to shine forth His glory as His temple should. When another person persecutes me, he or she is mistreating the temple of God and nothing that I own. Therefore, I am to respond in such a way that honors the wishes and character of the owner of that property. God commands me to love Him and all my neighbors and so that is how I must respond. The owner of me commands meekness.
As we have seen, the issue of meekness is not simple and it is not easy. It is founded on a massive theology and it only flows from hearts that have the indwelling Christ working His character in and through them. Indeed all that have Christ in them are blessed and eternally blessed. This should lead us to show meekness with joy in all circumstances. However, when we fail let us not give up, but seek the Lord for more of Himself which alone can make us like Him in order to enjoy His life expressed through us.
God Loves... Himself 
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