Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Websters defines the quality of being "meek" as:
1. enduring injury with patience and without resentment :
2 : deficient in spirit and courage :
3 : not violent or strong
Now, the second definition of Webster's "meekness", I think we can reasonably rule out as being interpretted in God's standard as a good thing, since the Bible lumps "cowardly" people into the same category as the "unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars" (Revelation 21:8)...so deficient in courage is NOT the definition of meekness we're after here. I think it has more to do with the other two definitions.
Our society has become obsessively centered on "rights". Many of us insist that our rights not be trod on by anyone else. Of course, there is a problem with this when one person's rights and another person's rights overlap in an antagonistic fashion. Does someone have the "right" not to be offended by someone else's "right" to say what they want and utter a stream of curse-words? We are all obsessed with defending our rights...even from people who are not even necessarily trying to overstep them.
Yet, if we look at the definitions of meekness, it would appear that our approptiate response to such injury is to endure it...and to not resent the person who caused the injury in the first place. And definitely not to take a violent action against such injury.
This can be a particularly tricky area in regards not to strangers are non-believers (from whom we are often willing to take an emotional beating with little or no objection) but when dealing with our own families, loved ones, and fellow Christians. Especially in these relationships, we could use a healthy dose of looking at our responsibilities and focussing on those instead of spending our energy asserting our "rights".
No one's asking us to be a doormat, and the Scripture is full of examples of people who stood up for themselves and, more importantly, for their God when the situation warranted it. But in our me-obsessed society, we seem to believe that these situations where we should stand up for ourselves against someone else's attack are much more common than they actually are. We need to all step back and think before the next time we lash out with a verbally violent attack that leaves the object of our outburst ripped to emotional tatters.
Action for Today: Find one situation today where you perceive that someone else has done you wrong, violated your rights, or mistreated you. Instead of getting upset and stewing about it...or giving them a tongue lashing...or instigating an argument or fight, simply step back and ignore the insult if it is not important. Or carefully speak to that person about the wrong...in terms of love, not attacks...if it is.
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Wow...did I ever blow it on this one. I will try the same thing again today. I was doing fine at the whole meekness thing and not asserting my own rights (which actually translates to "no one had done anything to hurt my feelings or annoy me" yesterday). But then, in the evening (I'm a morning person...not a night person...and I get cranky late in the evening), when it came time to put the kids to bed. Suddenly, kids are trying to run the show, assert their own wants, and generally throwing temper tantrums and whining.
ReplyDeleteDid I let it go like water off a ducks' back? No. (That would have been wrong anyway.)
Did I set them straight with a nice, quiet admonition to do better and remember to respect your parents? (That would have been the way to go...)
NOPE! I tore into them with what amounted to an adult temper-tantrum and hissy-fit. Just flat-out yelled at them for it. Afterward, when I realized how awful that was, I apologized, of course, and all was better before bedtime. We were on good terms once more. I had to tell them that they were wrong to pitch a fit...but so was I...and we'll both do better.
So...today, I'll give the meekness thing and not asserting my rights (parental or otherwise) rudely to other people another go.
Okay. So this is just a little thing. I'm sure others of you found much bigger deals and much better ways to show meekness. But this morning, I got up and did the dishes without complaining about it. (Dishes are usually my job, but not at 6 in the morning after a night when I stayed up helping someone else with homework that wasn't even mine.) There, I groused about it here, so it's out of my system...but didn't do so to the face of the person I was annoyed with about not helping me with the housework when I helped with the homework. And...if I do bring that up, I resolve to do it tactfully and nicely, not griping.
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