Meekness, Gentleness and Humility

“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5

The word ‘meek’, used in place of ‘gentle’ in the KJV, is certainly a suitable word as it applies to Jesus humbly submitting to death on the cross. Instead of displaying anger and resentment for the terrible injustice that was done to Him Jesus asked forgiveness for those who had so brutally persecuted, humiliated and ultimately crucified Him. He extended His perfect agape love to them! That is a huge example for us to follow as we aspire to bear fruit after His kind, especially in view of the fact that Jesus received a punishment for crimes He did not commit; He was completely sinless, blameless and innocent of any wrongdoing whatsoever. Shouldn’t He have been outraged? Isn’t that the natural reaction of the flesh? Yet, Jesus taught and later demonstrated through His example that it is the meek, the gentle and the humble who will inherit the earth.

I fear that meekness, gentleness and humility are practiced on a very limited basis in our world today; even Christians are so ‘rights’ oriented that we often forget that our Lord and Savior gave up every right He had so that He could show us how to truly live.