Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. 2 Cor. 10:1
What we learned so far about meekness is that it’s not so much to benefit ourselves as it is others in our treatment of them. It is the total opposite of what the world sees as strengths. There is nothing selfish about it, it puts others first even to the harm of the giver. It is the opposite of pride and arrogance, it bears the weaknesses of others, so there is no offense taken to bring bitterness or resentment. It brings into and provides a soothing influence to an angry atmosphere. It is free of malice, ill intent and desire for revenge. It is not haughty, harsh,rude, abrasive or assertive. It’s an uncontentious consideration towards all people, no matter the circumstance.
Just reading over the above description makes us wonder who could ever be like this? The answer, Jesus, so this is not something a person without the empowerment of Holy Spirit can produce. It comes from a true transformation of the soul that can only occur when we come into complete submission to God through Jesus. There has to be a true humbleness, not the kind most of us try to create, by being good or holy. It is a humble spirit that only comes from knowing our only true identity come from who we are in Jesus and nothing of our own. It’s relinquishing our self-will to His will, so we can become all He created us to be. To walk in the power and authority of Christ and bring heaven to earth, not through control and coercion, but through true repentance, which is a spirit empowered change of mind and way of thinking.
We’ve become greatly aware that brute force, physical outrage and anger do little or nothing to promote change. In many ways it brings about just the opposite, destruction and death, which we know is the enemy’s MO, to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). So beloved of God let’s take a step back, stop and look at what made Jesus change the world through His followers and become that same change that we need today. It won’t be easy, but we can do it through the power of Holy Spirit!
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