"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (or patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."(Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV, parenthesis and emphasis mine)
The next to the last Fruit of the Spirit is gentleness or meekness. Meekness means being lowly or humble. As we are thinking about Christmas, I am reminded of the meek and humble being that our Savior had. He was born in a place that housed animals and the first people to hear of His birth were shepherds. Shepherds were social and religious outcasts who were looked down on by the rest of society, yet God chose them to be the ones to spread the Good News of Jesus' birth.
Since Jesus is our example, let's look at a few examples of how He was meek while he was on earth. He was submissive to His earthly parents while He was under their care and He submitted to the will of God when He went to the cross. He was considerate of those whom He ministered to by healing them and by taking time to teach them. He did not ignore their needs, He met them. He was also teachable. When Jesus was twelve, He went to Jerusalem with His parents for the Passover. When they returned after leaving Him there, they found Jesus "sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions." (Luke 2:46) I'm not saying that Jesus did not already know all that these men were talking about, in fact, the next verse says, "And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers." I do think that this passage sets an example for us to have a teachable heart as a part of our meek spirit.
So what about you? Are you submissive to God and to those He has put in authority over you? Are you considerate of others in all of your interactions with them? Do you have a heart that is teachable, that is just waiting for God to show you something that He wants you to learn? Remember, meekness is not something we can master on our own. We must have the help of the Holy Spirit working in our lives to accomplish this task. Why not pray today and ask for the Holy Spirit to help you be a person of meekness?
