Meekness, Part 4

In this week’s meditation on meekness, I would like to focus on how meekness affects our relationship to other people. Let’s begin by recalling a quote I have already given you from Arthur W. Pink:

Meekness is the opposite of self-will toward God, and of ill-will toward men.

Meekness is defined as gentleness of spirit. A man of a gentle spirit is not so prone to harbour ill-will toward others. This agrees with the following instructions of Paul:

Titus 3:1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

I have highlighted the words I want you to focus on. Observe that if we are showing “all meekness unto all men,” we will be gentle, which is placed in contrast to speaking evil of men and being brawlers. A brawler is a quarrelsome fellow. A gentle person, who shows meekness unto all men, is not going to be so quick to say bad things about other people or to put the worst construction on their actions. Neither is he going to be so quick to quarrel with other people. Now let’s define gentle and the terms related to it.

Gentle - Of persons: Well-born, belonging to a family of position; having the character appropriate to one of good birth; noble, generous, courteous.

Courteous – Having such manners as befit the court of a prince; having the bearing of a courtly gentleman in intercourse with others; graciously polite and respectful of the position and feelings of others; kind and complaisant in conduct to others.

Kind - Of persons: Naturally well-disposed; having a gentle, sympathetic, or benevolent nature; ready to assist, or show consideration for others; generous, liberal, courteous.

The meek person is gentle, courteous to other men, considerate of them, and ready to assist them. He is not so quick to condemn others for their faults and failures or to put them down. He will not always be complaining about what other people do or don’t do and saying harsh things about them. He is more prone to be merciful to the weaknesses and sins of others, more prone to forgive and to restore. The meek person will more readily do as Paul instructs in these verses:

Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

Now we will miss an important motive for meekness toward all men if we overlook Paul’s reason for giving this instruction in Titus 3:1-2. Just look at the next verse.

Titus 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

If you find yourself quick to condemn others for their faults, to speak evil of them, and to quarrel with them, then just remember how foolish you have been in the past. Remember your own faults and this just might make you a little more sympathetic toward the faults of others. Francois Fenelon wrote:

So long as we are full of SELF, we are shocked at the faults of others. Let us think often of our own sin, and we shall be lenient to the sins of others.

Considering meekness as it pertains to our relationship with others, it is any wonder then that meekness is an important ingredient in effective witnessing and teaching?

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

2 Timothy 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

The self-absorbed, self-righteous, Pharisee makes a very ineffective witness and teacher for Christ. He has little patience with poor sinners who are struggling to learn and grow. He thinks himself so above them that all he does is criticize them, complain about them, and quarrel with them. Oh, I am not meaning by all this that a meek person takes an indifferent or soft attitude toward sin. No, sin must be abhorred and rebuked. But at the same time a meek person has compassion for the sinner who acknowledges his weakness and struggles to be free. A meek person remembers his own struggles with sin and shows the same mercy and compassion to others that he needed and still needs for himself. If the sinless Christ could show meekness and gentleness to sinners, how ought we, who are sinners ourselves, to show the same!