Meekness and humility
Meekness and humility.
There is no doubt that these two words are different, but because their meanings are close, they are often confused; but they are different, as shown by the below verses where both words are used in the same verse:
“With all lowliness (humility) and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love;” Eph 4:2
“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering;” Col 3:12
They are graces worked in us by the Holy Spirit; just New Testament graces, but the Holy Spirit also worked them in the Old Testament saints as well; consider Moses:
“Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” Num 12:3
And consider these promises to the meek in Psalms:
“The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.” Psa 22:26
“The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.” Psa 25:9
“But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Psa 37:11
"When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah.” Psa 76:9
“The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.” Psa 147:6
“For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.” Psa 149:4
Regarding humility in the Old Testament:
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2Ch 7:14
“Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.” 2Ch 34:27
But the crowning verse must certainly be Mat 11:29, in which the Lord Jesus says of himself, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
“Lowly in heart” is humility; the Lord Jesus uses both words to describe himself.
As with all aspects of godliness, which means God-likeness, God also wants us to be meek and humble; he looks favorably upon the meek and humble. We are to be like the Lord Jesus who is both meek and humble.
So what do these words mean?
For “meek” there is basically only one Hebrew word and one Greek word, with the dictionary definition of: humble; that is how close they are!
For “humble” there are several Hebrew and several Greek words which are translated “humble,” but the basic idea is: low, abased, down; either active: “I humble myself”; or passive: “I was humbled”.
If we look at the various contexts for “meek” we can say it means: not pushing one's own addenda, not wanting one's own way.
“Humble” means: lowliness of mind, not thinking highly of one's self, not thinking you are better than others.
They are close, and they are inter-connected, but they are different.
And note, we are commanded to be both meek and humble.
So what do “meekness” and “humility” look like in our daily personal lives?
If I am to be meek, I must not push my addenda; I must not want my own way; rather, I give way to the needs and desires of others.
Obviously this is not an absolute! I neither allow myself to be lead into sin, nor enable nor encourage others to sin; as a parent, I do not give into every whim of my children; nor even as a husband or wife, do I give into every wish of my spouse, even if sin is not an issue; prudence and wisdom are involved; there is the give and take of life and inter-relationship, but the point is that my mindset is not “my way or the highway”! I don't take my ball and go home, if I do not get my way.
I yield to the other, that they may be happy; I yield to the other for their good; I yield to the other because as Christ himself said about himself:
“My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” Joh 4:34
“I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” Joh 5:30
“For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” Joh 6:38
Yes, those are toward God, but we are told to take that mindset and apply it to our inter-personal relationships:
“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” Php 2:3-5
In marriage with our spouses; in church with our brothers and sisters in Christ; at work with our co-workers (oh how different is the mindset of the world); with our neighbor; in the store; on the road while driving.
What is the opposite mindset of meek? Pushy. My way.
Why do we think that way? Mainly because we think that if we don't stand up for ourselves, no one else will. But Christian that is not true, we have a father in heaven who rules and reigns on earth, in the affairs of men, over specific events and over individual people. “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” Pro 21:1
I don't need to push my addenda, I can trust my father to order the affairs of my life for my good and his glory, as I meekly let him hold the rudder of my ship.
It is a grace worked in me by the Holy Spirit, yet it is a mindset I must cultivate: “let this mind be in you!” That is a command.
Now notice again how closely meekness and humility are to each other. In Php 2:3 we have the phrase “in lowliness of mind” (humility) and “look not every man on his own things” (meekness); they are linked together.
If I am to be humble, I must not think more highly of myself than I am; I must accurately assess who I am and the gifts God has given to me; I must rank myself accurately relative to others.
I am, who I am, by the eternal will and plan of God; I am not more than that, that is all I am; I must not consider myself more than what God made me to be! An accurate assessment of myself is absolutely required to live a happy and fulfilled Christian life.
If I am forever wishing I was someone else, lifting myself up beyond what God has purposed for me to be, I cannot be happy or content or satisfied.
Know thyself!
But this does not mean we do not strive to be all that God intended us to be. On the contrary, we must strive to be all that you were designed by God to be; but do not seek to be more than that!
Fulfill all the plan God has purposed for you, but do not seek to go beyond that!
Since you are what you are by God's plan and design, there is no place for pride, you did not make yourself what you are, he made you what you are.
And do not envy others for what they are, but you are not; for what they have, but you do not have; that is unprofitable, foolish, and sinful because it expresses un-happiness with God's will for your life.
If each of us just did what God wanted us to do, to be what God wanted us to be, without pride and envy, how much happier we would all be.
We talk about a round peg in a square hole.
“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Rom 12:3
“And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up (proud; the opposite of humble) for one against another. For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it” 1Co 4:6-7
It is not pride to soberly assess what we are by the grace of God; that is in fact humility, to live according to how God has made us.
See my Blog “Faithfulness with the gifts God has entrusted to us.”
The opposite of humility is pride, and pride is a great evil, it was the devil's sin!
Look at Isa 14:12-15, Lucifer, the Devil said, “I will exalt myself”.
Pride: self-exaltation, striving to make a name for oneself, exalting and bragging about how great we are and what we have done, proclaiming our goodness and gifted-ness before men.
Pride says “look at me!” “Envy me!”
“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” Mat 6:1-2
“And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” Mat 6:5
“Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” Mat 6:16
It is a sin to which young Christians are prone: 1Ti 3:6.
The above verses are in the religious realm, but the same applies to our family life: what a great spouse I am, I deserve better than what he/she is giving me; what a great parent I am, my kids do not appreciate me.
Or the work place: what a great employee I am, certainly better than Joe; I deserve the raise, the promotion. That extra money might promote covetousness in you; that promotion might require more time on the job, and take you away from your family and church obligations, or simply complicate your life with too many things to do.
Or in sports, or at school, activities might require you to participate in activities on Sunday, and not allow you to go to church. How parallel to Ancient Rome, “Just sprinkle a little incense to Caesar on the altar, and then go worship your Jesus;” just give a little to the god of sports, and then go to church when you have time.
What about wanting everyone to know our opinion, as if our thoughts were the be-all and end-all of wisdom. Am I writing this Blog to exalt myself?
To sum up, there is no question these 2 Christian virtues of meekness and humility, are absolutely opposite to all the world tells us today! Let others have their way? Consider others above me? No way!
But we are clearly commanded to have that mind in us which was in Christ, and to learn from him who meek and lowly of heart, and to therefore be meek and humble.
A Christian is a “little Christ,” to reflect Christ, to be a mirror image of Christ.
We are to be like Jesus; we are not to be like the world!
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Rom 12:1-2
We are commanded to be different from the world. It may mean we don't get the job promotion or the sale; so what?! We are pilgrims and strangers here; this is not our home. We are here on earth, not to compete with the world, for the things of the world, but to bear witness to the gospel and Jesus, that people will be saved.
We are not to promote our own addenda and exalt ourselves; we are to promote his addenda and exalt him!
That is done in meekness and humility, but remember, meek does not mean weak, nor humble mean being a door mat; the Lord Jesus was neither week nor a door mat.
May the Lord help each one of us, for surely, without the Holy Spirit, we cannot be either meek or humble.
5 September 2024