Is It Manly to be Meek?

Good Tuesday morning! I have a question for the manly men out there today. Is it manly to be meek? Back in the day, I heard many times that meek equals weak, and that of course it was not manly to be meek. In spite of the words of Jesus that the meek shall inherit the earth, we were led to believe that meekness was a bad thing, something reprehensible when found in a man. The dictionary even lists gentle or kind as an obsolete definition of meek. No one wants to be meek these days, even though the Son of God himself says that those with this quality will inherit the earth. The first definition of meek: patient and kind, not inclined to anger or resentment, sounds pretty good, but do we use it that way? The second definition is what I heard a lot in my life: too submissive; easily imposed on; spineless; spiritless. This is the closest that meek comes to weak, and the definition that you probably hear in the business or sports world most. Is that fair though?

No one argues with the strength of a horse save those who have no experience with horses. When a horse is meeked, it is made to obey the rider. The strength of the horse is in no way diminished; it is simply brought under control. That is the definition that we are missing, the one closest to what Jesus used. When we are meek, our strength is brought under the control of the Spirit and we gain a bushel of that fruit of the Spirit, self-control. We tend to avoid meekness because of our prior associations with the word, but I would submit to you that a weak person cannot be meek. There is no strength to bring under control in a weak person. We should in fact see these similar sounding words as more opposite to each other. A meek person is strong, but under control. So the answer is a hearty, Yes! it is very manly to be meek.

We are reminded almost daily of the abuses of strength in the news media. Men use their physical strength to hurt other men, women, and even children. Meekness under Christ is the answer to these problems in the world, and of course the way we as men avoid becoming a part of the problem. When things don't go the way we like, men tend to fall back on a physical solution in their anger. However, there will be no inheriting the earth for those who live this way. Those who do not inherit the earth have only one other destination, and I don't think any of us want to go there for eternity. Someone may call you meek in a derogatory fashion one day. Now we know the proper answer to that is something like, "Praise God! Thank you for the compliment."

Have a meek day in Christ,
Bucky