Text: Colossians 3:12, Galatians 5:22-26
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience…” —Colossians 3:12
You can tell a lot about a person by the way they dress. It’s easy to recognize the profession of a person in uniform. It’s easy to detect the favorite team of a fan garbed in his team’s branding from head to toe. When I was in high school, I donned spandex pants and a lot of “metalhead” t-shirts while accessorizing with headbands and bandanas. My usual attire affirmed that I was a drummer in a rock band!
For Christians, our spiritual clothing speaks about who we are, and whose we are.
Last week we looked at how Paul told his readers to “put on,” or “clothe yourselves” in humility. In addition to compassion, kindness, and humility, Christ-followers are also instructed to be clothed in “meekness” (Colossians 3:12). The Greek word used here and in Galatians 5:23 is one of the hardest New Testament words to translate. It can also be rendered “gentleness.”
When this word praotēs is translated as “meekness,” it speaks to our inward state—how we are submitted to the Holy Spirit’s rule and reign in our hearts. When translated as “gentleness,” it can refer to the outward state—how we interact with and treat others. We are meek when we are humbled by the revelation that Christ has demonstrated mercy toward us undeservingly. We are gentle when we take that mercy we have been given and offer it to others respectfully—even if they are undeserving.
Titus was taught to be “gentle toward everyone” (Titus 3:2, NIV). Timothy was taught that “a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind [also translated ‘gentle’] to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people” (2 Timothy 2:24, NLT). Meekness has been described as power under control. The greatest and most powerful Person who ever lived was also a meek and humble man—“learn from Me, for I am gentle [meek] and humble in heart,” said Jesus (Matthew 11:29). Christ was omnipotent—so His meekness definitely wasn’t weakness.
To follow Jesus, is to learn from Jesus. We can see that Jesus never ran from a testy exchange with the Pharisees, and he even turned over some temple tables along the way. Surely Jesus didn’t lose his meekness in the heat of the moment, or temporarily suffer a lapse in gentleness. Maybe it’s just that we’ve mistaken meekness and gentleness with being nice. But I’ve never read where the Pharisees called Jesus a “really nice” guy. Jesus wasn’t soft, passive, or evasive of conflict in his ministry. He didn’t quarrel over trivial matters, but He also didn’t shy away from truth or rebuke when it needed to be spoken. So, what do we make of that? I don’t believe that Christians are to be spineless sooks. What if being clothed in meekness looks more like a strength than softness?
Greek war horses were “meeked” in the sense that they were trained to stay in the battle rather than flee at the sound of loud canons. As meek Christians, we are to stay in the battle and not retreat. We take a firm stand when it is necessary but should always aim to do it the way Jesus did. We should handle conflict with temperance, rather than run from it in fear. At Antioch, Paul opposed Peter [a believer] “to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.” I hope this was done in meekness. Peter told Christians to share their faith with unbelievers in “gentleness and respect.”
Meekness [gentleness] is a fruit of the Spirit. It’s a “strength” God gives to us in exchange for our “weakness,” as we surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It doesn’t come from willpower, but God’s power. Meekness keeps us in the battle, emboldens us to speak truth, enables us to face conflict rightly, and clothes us to share our faith with others without backing down. Meekness is God’s strength in us, and that is powerful. Think about that as you seek to abide in Him this week.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, help me to surrender my weakness in exchange for the strength of Christ’s meekness. Holy Spirit, empower me to stay in the battle and never retreat from demonstrating the Gospel boldly. For you have not given me a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion:
- Do you tend to avoid conflict, or embrace it?
- When Jesus confronted the Pharisees or turned over the money tables in the temple, do you think he lacked meekness, or was it being manifested in a different way?
- Why do you think it is important for us to not mistake passiveness, softness, or weakness as meekness?
- What do you think meekness looks like in a person fully controlled by the Holy Spirit?
- How will you lean into God’s power this week to allow the Holy Spirit to produce in you a meekness that is humble, firm, strong, powerful, respectful, temperate, gentle, truth-speaking, sin-confronting, and life-giving?
