Fruit of the Spirit – Meekness
Fruit of the Spirit – Meekness
We have been looking at Galatians 5:22-23 and I have talked about the various fruits of the Spirit that God would like to see grow and develop within us. As we have studied these fruits I hope that you are not discouraged because you realize that you are lacking in some of these fruits. Maybe you know that you are not as loving, or patient or kind as you should be. Or maybe you have not reached the point where are experiences the joy, peace, or self control mentioned in this text. What I want you to remember is the fact that these attributes are called ‘fruit’, and if you have ever tried to grow any kind fruit, you know that no fruit grows and develops over night. The best fruit and sweetest fruit takes a long time to grow and mature. Raising fruit usually needs a lot of care and attention as well.
The final fruit of the Spirit that I would like to talk about today, which is also seen in our verse is the fruit called ‘meekness.’
Question: If you had all kinds of powers, if you could do anything (yes anything) you wanted to do with just a blink of an eye, or just by thinking of it, how would that change your life? What would you do with that kind of power? How would you act if you had all the powers of God? For me this is a scary thought.
At first meekness may seem like a strange attribute, or fruit of the Spirit. But in all reality it is an amazing attribute to possess, especially since it entails how you perceive yourself, and how you act toward others, how you want others to see you, and how you end up serving God.
As I thought about what it is to be a meek Christian, for some reason I could not help but get a certain individual and the theme song to an old TV show out of my head that I use to watch as a child. I would like to play it for you before we go any further in this lesson to see if you remember it:
PLAY: Adventure of Superman Introduction. (Click on title to view)
As a boy growing up, Superman was the ultimate good guy and superhero of my youth. He had the most amazing powers. Not only could he fly and go into outer space without a ship or space suit, he had x-ray vision, and eyes that could burn a hole through the hardest substance. He had super hearing, he was bullet proof, seemingly indestructible, and he was unbelievably strong; stronger than a locomotive, stronger that any human could imagine being, and more.
Yet even though he had all those powers he did not exalt himself above others, rather he chose the life of a servant. He stood up for the weak and against all evil, injustice, and crime. Simply put, he lived to serve and make life better for others. And when he wasn’t out saving the world from all kinds of criminals and doing nice things, he disguised himself as a mild mannered reporter for the Daily Planet. He wore thick black glasses, he dressed and acted like everyone else, and was a common worker at the newspaper.
He was the most powerful being on the planet, yet rather than choosing glory for himself, and ruling over others, he lived a humble life and choose to serve those weaker than himself and he seemed very happy and content doing so.
This is a good example of what means to be meek.
Some you have studied the word meek or meekness, and have probably come across the phrase that, ‘meekness is not weakness, rather it is power under control.’
Actually the Hebrew and Greek words that are translated meekness in some of our Bibles are difficult words to translate because no one English word was considered an adequate translation. The Greek idea behind this word meekness in that New Testament period often referred to someone who had power yet they were ‘gentle or soft’. It is said that such an individual had a lot more impact on the world than the proud, arrogant ones with a big mouth.
In the Bible it refers to someone who had power or strength, yet because of their relationship with God they put themselves in a position to serve Him and others rather than themselves; individuals like Joseph, Moses and Jesus come to mind.
In Matthew 5, in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that it will be the meek who will inherit the earth.
I wonder what he meant by this and then I read, ‘A spirit of meekness is what enables it’s possessor to get so much enjoyment out of his earthy portion be it small or large. Delivered from greed and a grasping disposition, he is satisfied and content with what he has. Being content is actually a byproduct of being a meek individual. The haughty and covetous are not the ones who will inherit the earth even though they may own many acres of it now. A meek and humble Christian is far happier in a small cottage than the wicked in a palace.’ (Authur Pink)
See what happens is this, as you grow stronger and more mature as a Christian, you wake up to who and what you really are in Christ and because of Him. As you do, you become aware of how important you are to God and to this world. You realize that you are not insignificant, you are important and that you have been created in God’s own image.
Can you understand how important and big that knowledge is, how important you are in light of all eternity? We are God’s children.
We are told that at present we are a little lower than angelic beings (Heb. 2:7), but we have Heaven and eternity before us. And at present, right now, God’s own Spirit is living in us. His Spirit is grooming us, teaching us, prompting us, and preparing us to be all that we were meant to be as God own sons and daughters here on this earth.
Now, you may never exhibit super human powers like Superman. You may never do a miracle like Jesus or the apostles because God has a unique role for each of us to play, just like He had for them in His kingdom here on earth.
We are therefore unique, amazing, powerful beings, created by the Almighty God of this universe and we are His children.
Now I believe that the devil has tried to mess with our heads by trying to get us to believe one of two lies :
#1. He want us to see ourselves and believe that we are insignificant, a worthless nobody, just another organism using up the raw materials of this earth, nothing more than another virus like creature spreading across this planet consuming it. Thoughts like that, are such a lie. Not one of us should ever think or say, ’I am worthless, or insignificant, or I am unimportant,’ because you are important whether you feel like it or not, because you are significant and important to the God of this universe.
#2. I believe the devil gets others to think more of them self than they should. Somehow I think he actually leads others to believe that they are above, or superior and better than others. This in turn creates other problems like; pride, arrogance, prejudice, thinking that they are better than others and deserve more. That was what Hitler and the Nazis believed, that they were the superior race. But the same attitude can surface in the workplace, in our schools, in government, even in our church if we are not careful. (Rom. 12:3 “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought,”)
Sadly both views are wrong in God’s eyes.
I believe that God wants us to have a healthy, realistic and clear understanding of who we are, what we mean to Him, and what He wants for us to become. He would like to see His own character and attributes in us. And then I believe He would like to see us use those attributes and talents to serve Him and others, and enjoy doing that. It is a theme we see repeated over and over and over in the Bible!
So what’s it going to take to get there – to be this meek person that God wants us to become?
First of all we need to realize that no matter where we are in life, whether one has very little education, or a lot, or if one has lots of money in the bank, or none at all, or whether a person is very old, or very young, there is a danger of having an improper image or perception of our self. Some may feel superior because of what they have, others may feel inferior or insignificant because of what they don’t have.
BUT in all reality, what’s more important is what God thinks, how He looks at us. Quite frankly that’s far more important than your own opinion. I believe God actually knows more than we do… even about our self.
So the first thing that I believe we need to do is base our significance and worth on how God looks at us.
Second, I believe we need to recognize that God made each of us unique, with our own unique talents, and abilities, our own unique ways of thinking and doing things, to use in the various roles as we live out our life. If God has9pol; put you in a certain place in life, if He has allowed you to do a certain job, or played a certain role then look at it as if it were from God. Do your best as if working for the Lord. Don’t feel insignificant because you aren’t doing something stupendous, and don’t look down on others who may seem to have mundane jobs. Being meek is using what power you have to serve God and serve others (with whatever ability or talent you may have), and feeling good about doing whatever you can without seeking honor and glory for yourself.
If you happen to be in a position of authority or just happen to be blessed with an abundance of talent and ability, or if you do have a lot of money, possessions or property, realize that those are gifts from God.
Jesus once said, “For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required” Luke 12:48
God did not bless you with those talents, abilities, and things just to make you look good and feel powerful, rather the best thing you can do is to humble yourself and use those things to benefit others and glorify God by doing them in a meek joyful manner.
Superman was a fictitious character who was portrayed as the most powerful man on the planet. Yet because he was meek he chose to use what ever ability he had to help and serve others, which gave him joy in his life.
Jesus was not a fictitious character made up by men. Rather, He is as real as can be. He is God’s Son, and He is quite literally the incarnation of God Himself. In other words He is God in the flesh.
In scripture, like in John 1 and other places we are told that everything that is seen and unseen was made by Him and for Him, yet despite all that power and authority He came into the world as flesh and blood and chose to serve and help you and me.
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said, “28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
I believe God the Son (Jesus) was simply saying here, ‘If you have a burden that seems to heavy for you, come to me. Don’t worry for I am meek. I will help, learn from me and you will find rest for your soul.‘
The fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self control. All these attributes and fruits are what God wants to help us develop in our life.
All come from Love… All will produce joy and peace.
They will help us to be a more faithful and trust worthy and self controlled person…so that we can humbly serve one another’s with what gifts and talents we have, to bring glory not to our self, but to God
We just need to do our best to keep in step with the spirit and choose to do His will, and do our best to heed His promptings, and stop doing things we should not be doing. Each of us can do this. We are also God’s sons and daughters, made in His image. And we can do all things thru Christ, because He will give us the strength we need!
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