Matthew 5:5
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Meekness, I have read, is not weakness, but Spirit empowered self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). The phrase, “shall inherit the earth” is quoted from Psalm 37:11.
Self-control has to be Spirit empowered, because the huge majority, if not all of us, do not have any! Oh, we do most of the time, but those are the times that any of us would be in control of ourselves. It is times of frustration, temptation, stress, grief, or even joy that we can be out-of-control.
Maybe the self-controlled will inherit the earth because they are the ones that will be able to function when others cannot, will not, or do not. It takes relying on the Spirit, being filled with the Spirit, and controlled by the Spirit for it to happen.
Update
I am feeling good. Pushed it pretty hard this week, so I am taking it a bit easier today. My biggest fear is that many will see how well I am doing, and will stop praying. Don't! Every day, something—even if it is just taking the pills—reminds me that I have cancer, and that reminds me that God is in control, and I can trust Him, with me.
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Tom, thanks for your thoughts on meekness from Mat 5:5. I enjoyed your connection with Gal 5:23 with it being one of the fruits of the Spirit. I also appreciated your noting that it is the only one of the beatitudes that is a quotation (Ps 37:11). In reading that Psalm, I was struck by the way verse 11 has two parts. 1) the meek shall inherit the land, and 2) they shall delight themselves in great peace. This same verb "to delight oneself", occurs earlier in the same Psalm (v. 4): "Delight yourself in the Lord, that he might give to you the requests of your heart." Delight is such a vivid word, since we normally delight in people or food, but here this intense experience of sheer joy is the result of communion with God Himself. We receive a similar invitation to delight in Him in Isa 55:2. Thank you again for your reflection on meekness and opening the path to Psalm 37. Yours in Christ, Bruce Beck
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