A Rare Virtue

Meekness is a quality that is lacking in many people today. It’s the opposite of being proud and arrogant.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5 NKJV).

But what does it mean to be meek? A literal translation of the word is “power under control.” In the original language, it means riding a stallion but having control over it. It isn’t that the stallion no longer has the ability to do what it wants to do, but it has surrendered its will to the rider. That is strength under control.

We once had a German shepherd we adopted from a program that trained guide dogs for the blind. He had some slight hip dysplasia, which prevented him from staying in the program, but he was a very loving, intelligent animal.

One day, I took him to an outdoor mall where a lot of people walked their dogs. My dog was friendly and always approached people, but they moved out of the way. They thought he wanted to attack them, but he probably wanted to lick them. He had been trained since he was a puppy to be a companion.

He still had power. He still had teeth and could inflict harm. But he wasn’t trained to attack. He was in love with the world. That is power under control. That is meekness.

And who is a better example of meekness than Jesus, God in human form, who took the abuse and suffering of the Crucifixion? With one word, He could have wiped everyone out. But He embraced the abuse and suffering for us.

Meekness results from having a correct assessment of one’s self before God. It leads one to approach others in a new way. A blessed or happy person will be a meek person.