Humility goes a long way…

Alright, we are going to continue our series on the / / Beatitudes this week. Last week we looked at our need to be self-aware in the first two things that Jesus says.

I find it absolutely fascinating that this is where Jesus starts. This whole Sermon on the Mount, 3 chapters of teaching. If you look at the titles that the bible interpreters give, there’s 19 distinct sections of teaching. And where does Jesus start, or at least Matthew compiling these teachings? At the attitude we need to have to Be…

Remember, that’s what we’re looking at here. / / Be Attitude. The Attitude to Be.

What is the attitude we need to have to be a true disciple of Jesus?

…to adopt to be a true follower of the way of the Messiah?

…to allow Jesus to show us so that we can truly live in His Kingdom, not just ourselves, but with others?

I said this last week, there are some of these beatitude statements that are inwardly focused, like we looked at last week, and then there are some that our outwardly focused - like the one we’ll be looking at today.

So, if Jesus is going to do a massive teaching on 19 different aspects of kingdom living, it makes sense that He’s going to start with the very attitude we all need in order to more easily step into these kingdom principles.

/ / How you approach a subject will determine how much you get out of it. Not just a subject, but a conversation, a person, a situation. Most of life is determined by how we approach a situation. I’ve talked about this before, I am a nice person. I am generally kind and pleasant to be around. BUT, my face doesn’t always say that. So I have to be aware of how I come across because my attitude can change the outcome of any given situation.

When you approach someone and you look like you’re angry, you may just cause that persons defences to go up. But, you will get a very different response if you approach someone looking friendly and happy. It’s just the way it is.

And some people will say, “Well that’s on them. I can’t be responsible for someone else’s response to me.” And in once sense you may be right, but the wisdom found in the book of Proverbs also says, / / A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare. (Proverbs 15:1)

It also says in Proverbs 29:11, 22-23

/ / Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back.

An angry person starts fights; a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin. Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.

How we approach someone changes the outcome. Paul says in Romans 12:18, / / Do all that YOU can to live in peace with everyone.

So, Jesus starts with, Here’s the attitude you need to engage with the teachings I’m about to give you. And where does he start? With our pride, with our self-awareness.

/ / Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

You have to recognize you have lack and have a need for more of God to experience him.

And you have to become comfortable with feeling and identifying with your emotions and pain so that you can experience God’s comfort.

It is impossible to experience the healing of the doctor if you are not willing to recognize that you actually need the doctor. That’s what Jesus said, right? / / “Healthy people don’t need a doctor - sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinner and need to repent.” (Luke 5:32)

Remember a couple weeks ago we looked at the word repent. The greek word that we translate as repent means to to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins. So we reframed what we believe repenting to mean with / / “Seeing sin for what it really is, and being disgusted by it, seeing a better way and choosing it.”

So Jesus is saying he came to find those who recognize they miss the mark, they can’t do it on their own, and that they want to, or need to find a better way because the way they are living is just not working for them.

That’s the conviction of the Holy Spirit, isn’t it? Recognizing that my life, and the way I’m doing it, isn’t the best way, so I turn to God to follow Him and live by a better way.

See, salvation saves you. But being willing to lay down your own way and following the way of Jesus is what changes you, and it happens through the power of the Holy Spirit because you are following the way of Jesus.

Jesus says in John 15:1-17 that he is the vine, and we are the branches. What he’s saying by that is that the life we will experience will only be experienced as long as we are connected to him, receiving from him, drawing form Him.

The key to a life of transformation is John 15:5, / / “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.”

Now, some people look at that and think, “Well, we don’t want to get into that works mentality, like our salvation can happen by how good we are.” 100% true. We are not saved by works. But we are transformed by them. All you have to do is ask, “What does it mean to remain in Jesus, and remain in the vine?”

He says it just a few verses later in John 15:7, 10, 13, / / “…if you remain in me and my words remain in you… When you obey my commandments you remain in my love… You are my friends if you do what I command…”

Ok, so the question we asked last week, are we self-aware enough to know that we need the doctor? That we need to follow Him toward healing and transformation. That when we recognize our need for Him he can fill that need. And when we are willing to be open and honest about our feelings, about our struggles, about the areas of our lives that we feel may be out of control, that is when He can comfort us.

So, right away Jesus challenges that inner response and our ability to recognize we need a new attitude to be a follower in this Kingdom.

Let’s keep going to the next verse and see where Jesus continues to leads us.

Matthew 5:5, first in the ESV, / / Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Alright, let’s read that in the NLT as well.

/ / “God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.”

Let’s keep going through some of these translations because they are really good.

/ / “You are blessed when you’re content with just who you are - no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.” (MSG)

/ / “What blessing comes to you when gentleness lives in you! For you will inherit the earth.” (TPT)

/ / “Blessed are the meek (the mild, patient, long-suffering), for they shall inherit the earth” (AMP)

So, I read those because they contain what translations use. Most often that is meek, and then it’s kind of split between humble and gentle.

The greek word is praus, and Strong’s Dictionary says it means mild, by implication, humble

But this is kind of a deep word and they give an expanded definition: mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness - meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. In the OT, the meek are those who wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice. Thus, meekness toward evil people means knowing God is permitting the injuries they inflict, that He is using them to purify His elect and that He will deliver His elect in His time. Gentleness or meekness is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest. It stems from trust in God’s goodness and control over the situation. The gentle person is not occupied with self at all. This is a work of the Holy Spirit, not of the human will.

So, that’s quite the expanded definition actually but I’m not sure how helpful it is if we don’t break it down to something usable. Reading through that definition something stands out though, and that is there is an acceptance of something. So this morning we are going to look at four areas of acceptance in our lives that this word ‘meek’ or humble, or gentle, are pointing to. And the result of that is the inheritance of the whole earth. That’s a pretty big promise, isn’t it?

So, the first one we will look at is what I will call:

/ / 1. Acceptance of Station

What do we mean by “station”. Well, that can mean our lot in life, it can be our position, our place. Let’s say, “It is what it is”. We are who we are. We have what we have. This is what we’ve been given. It’s our station in life.

But how is this ‘meek’? Well, look at this definition. / / Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting.

We “accept” his dealings. So, we need to define what we mean by acceptance. Because there is a potential downfall that I want to make sure you don’t fall into.

The first thing I want to establish here is that acceptance does NOT mean taking an attitude of, “Oh well, I guess it is what it is and I have to go through this.” or “Deal with it.” This is not a sad or broken acceptance.

If you look up the word acceptance it’s going to give you three definitions.

First one is simply to accept something. Someone offers you something, you accept it.

The second is the process of being received as adequate or suitable, or being admitted into a group. You have received your acceptance into a new club.

But it’s the third definition of acceptance that we are using here, and that is, agreement with or believe in an idea, opinion, or explanation.

I want you to think of it this way. We aren’t going to say in a negative sense, “oh, well, I guess it is what it is…” we are going to use those same words, but in the most positive of emphasis, “It is what it is…”

Think of that in the context of God and the definition we are looking at for being meek.

Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting.

When we understand that God is good, and He will treat us that way, we can begin to approach him in a different way.

I have this conversation with Kaylee sometimes and ask her, She’ll ask me where we are going, or what we are going to do, or what we are having for dinner. And I ask her, “Do you trust me.” Now, at this point she should know that when I say I’m bringing her somewhere it is going to be good, or at least for her benefit.

Do we feel the same about God? Do we trust Him? Because this is a big thing. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, / / Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Trust in who? The Lord.

Depend on who? Not your own understanding, but HIM.

Seek who’s will? The Lords.

This acceptance of station is in connection to who God is in your life. It’s not a just accepting life as it is if it’s terrible. It’s beyond what you see around you. It’s beyond what you are experiencing in the moment. It’s knowing that God is so trustworthy that you can trust Him regardless of what you are experiencing.

But it’s also knowing that if he has a plan for you, that he’s good enough to show you, and you can follow him.

We probably all know Psalm 23 to a certain extent. It’s one of the most well known scriptures. The Lord is my shepherd…

But, it says in vs 4, / / Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Notice something: You are the one walking.

You might even be the reason you ended up in this valley. Or it might have been a friend who led you there, or life circumstances land you in some pretty tough spots. But it doesn’t matter how you got there. You are the one walking, and the best advice you can give anyone walking through the valley of the shadow of death is, “DO NOT STOP!” Keep going! Keep walking. Get out of there as quickly as you can. And what’s the best way to do that? Remind yourself that you are not alone, God is with you, and his rod and his staff will give you guidance.

The rod and staff speak of correction and guidance - tools a shepherd used to keep the sheep moving on the right path.

Ok, this is the last part of that little phrase in the definition of meek, / / without disputing or resisting…

How many like to argue with God?

I trust you, but I don’t like what you’re doing in my life right now.

I trust you, but I need you to work a little faster.

I know you’re good, but it sure doesn’t feel it right now.

Listen, I’ve been there. Trust me. I have those moments where I wonder, “God, what are you doing?”

This is part of this meekness of spirit that this is talking about.

Blessed are the meek. Those who accept where they are and that God is with them and that God knows what He’s doing and as they trust him he will show them where to go and what to do, and they don’t have to argue or push back because they trust that God is good.

I’m not saying this is doctrine, but I would suggest that we are a better witness to the grace, mercy, and faithfulness of God when we keep our cool, and maintain peace in the midst of difficult situations than if we just have it all go our way all the time.

Listen, God is good. And He’s blessed me in material ways a lot. But I’m going to be honest, I get a lot more of, “Wow, your home is just so peaceful” or “How do you not get bent out of shape over that. I don’t know how I would handle that.” than I do, “Wow, you are really blessed with all the things, aren’t you?”

I’m not saying I get it right all the time, but I’m learning to be meek, meaning, I’m learning to be calm and trust in the Lord no matter what I’m going through and trusting that He knows best while doing my best to not resist or dispute what he asks me to do.

And let’s just leave that there like that. Resist or dispute what he asks me to do. That’s the last part of Proverbs 3:6, isn’t it, / / Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Which path YOU should take!

/ / 2. Acceptance of lesson

The second part of the definition of praus is, / / In the OT, the meek are those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice. Thus, meekness toward evil people means knowing God is permitting the injuries they inflict, that He is using them to purify His elect, and that He will deliver His elect in His time.

Ok, so what does all of that mean? Is God permitting evil people to injure us? Is that what it’s saying? That he is using that to purify us, and that we have to wait for him to deliver us?

Yes and no.

The first part. / / The meek are those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice.

I would suggest that one of the biggest and first questions people ask when things don’t go their way is “Why?” And I would also say that the second thing we do is look for something or someone to blame.

I had this for quite some time in our finances. It took me years to see God in this. It seemed like every time Kelley and I would have some sort of financial windfall, immediately after something would come up that would take all of that money away.

And it drove me crazy. We get some sort of blessing and the car breaks down.

We get an extra contract, or some more work, or our paycheck has a bonus on it, and something comes up that we need to use that money for.

And I always looked at it in this way, “Why does God allow the enemy to steal my blessing?”

Problem is, I wasn’t asking God, I was just yelling at the devil, “Stop stealing my blessing.”

I was rebuking what I didn’t understand.

Oh man, that will preach right there. I want to suggest to you this morning that sometimes you go through things that God wants to use to develop your character and you take it as an attack from the enemy and the enemy had nothing to do with it. You have to hear that in context. Don’t just run with that on everything. We have to use discernment.

But let me tell you, if Jesus goes through the wilderness for 40 days and is tempted by the devil, and the goal of our discipleship to Christ is meant to make us more like him, what makes you think you’ll never come up against something that will test you?

James 1:2-4 says, / / Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Then he says a few verses later in James 1:12, / / God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

1 Peter 4:12-13 says, / / …don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad - for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

And let’s just grab one more. Paul says in Romans 5:3-4, / / We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

See, what I didn’t realize was that God was doing something in these “trials” I was experiencing. I was taking it as backlash, like the enemy was stealing my blessing, and all that was producing in me was anger, resentment and frustration. The complete opposite of what God wanted for me, right?

When trouble comes your way, consider it opportunity for great joy.

Well I certainly wasn’t experiencing great joy.

Receive the crown of life after patiently enduring testing.

Nope, felt like a crown of defeat.

fiery trials that seem strange… yet, be very glad?

Ok, what is going on here that is meant to develop my character?

Notice that none of those verses say God is breaking you down, testing you, trying you.

Now, I’m not saying He doesn’t. But God knows the state of the world. He knows it’s messed up. In fact, and this is where the turning point was for me. God knows when my car is going to break down. God knows when someone is going to hurt me. God knows when I’m going to be faced with an abnormally large electric bill, or an increase to my mortgage, or insurance… And I suddenly realized. God is preemptively providing for the situation I’m about to go through.

But as long as I saw it as a robbery I never grew. My character doesn’t develop if I’m resentful and bitter. And my confidence and hope in God doesn’t grow if I keep viewing this as the devil robbing me instead of my gracious heavenly father providing for me.

/ / Look for God in the midst of the trial rather than just giving the enemy credit!

One thing that the definition we read says that I want to clarify. It said, / / …meekness toward evil people means knowing God is permitting the injuries they inflict.

Let’s not get bent out of shape on that one. God permitting humanity to be humanity is not God inflicting the injury himself. And if we really want to look up to God and say, “Why did you let this happen?” then we also have to blame God for every mistake we’ve ever made, every time we hurt someone else. How many know that if you were brought to court because you hit someone, it wouldn’t go very far if you said, “God made me do it. It was God’s will that I hit him, so I did. So, if you want to blame someone, don’t blame me, blame God.”

I am going to go as far as to say, the only way God is responsible for any bad happening in the world at the hands of people is because he gave us free will. And as much as it might not make sense to us all the time, that was an act of love, because as we’ve talked through in the past couple weeks, Love does not control. It can’t. Control is contrary to love. Love invites. Love releases. Love encourages. Love does not control. 1 Corinthians 13, Love does not insist on its own way…

The other thing we need to remember is that acceptance of lesson doesn’t mean just taking the beatdown and thinking we deserved it so we leave it at that. No way.

Jesus tells a story in Luke 18:1-8. It’s called the parable of the persistent widow. For sake of time I won’t read the whole thing, but you can go back and read it this week. But here’s the rundown. There’s a judge, and he doesn’t fear God, and he doesn’t care about people. And there’s a widow in the city that comes to him everyday because she’s had serious injustices done to her. Every day she comes, “Give me justice in my dispute with my enemy” she cries. But the judge doesn’t care.

Finally, because he’s absolutely sick of this woman, this judge decides to give her the justice she’s asking for. This is the conclusion. Jesus says that if this unjust judge would eventually give a decision in favor of this woman, don’t you think God, who is just, and is good, will give justice to those who cry out to him day and night.

So, meekness is this. / / Not getting bent out of shape over the trials and troubles you experience in your life, while persisting in the face of a just and righteous God who can and will give you justice. It’s learning the lessons we can learn from the trials and tests we endure so that our character can be built up. It’s being a witness to those in our lives, at our workplaces, in our community, by enduring trial and coming out with our composure, our peace, our character and our integrity, and still loving God, honoring Him and trusting him.

In my financial experience, what kind of testimony do I have if all I see is robbery. People ask how I’m doing, “Man, the devil got me again…” But what if instead, “Man, you know that bonus we got last week? It came at the perfect time. My car broke down the day after! I’m just so thankful for God’s provision!”

/ / 3. Acceptance of humility

/ / The next part in the definition says, Gentleness or meekness is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest. It stems from trust in God’s goodness and control over the situation.

This is why one of the translations we see of this word is ‘humble’. That’s what the NLT says, right, / / God blesses those who are humble…

Humility is one of the cornerstones of the Christian faith both as it pertains to God AND other people.

James 4:6 gives us one of the best descriptions of how God views those who are not humble.

/ / “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Now, it might not always be easy to see how God is working on our behalf, but I don’t know about you, I most certainly do NOT want him to oppose me! That word is a battle term, to range in battle against.

This is why Proverbs 16:18-19 warns us, / / Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. Better to live humbly with the poor than to share plunder with the proud.

So, there are three parts of humility I want to address, because when Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek” I think he’s giving a broad invitation to all of these things. You can’t be meek in one area and not in the other. You can’ be humble here, but proud there and it all work out. Yes, we are all in a process, we are not yet perfect, but the goal is to become more like Christ, who was meek and humble in all of these areas.

Jesus actually said in Matthew 11:28-30, / / “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

So, the yoke he is speaking of was kind of a play on words. First, the yoke is what you would see on a pair of oxen pulling a cart. Or maybe someone carrying two buckets of water. The wooden piece that sits on their shoulders. That’s the yoke. And the Pharisees would boast about how they could carry the yoke or the weight of the Torah, the law, getting it all right.

So this yoke, the thing that you connect heavy weights in order to carry, Jesus says that his is easy and light. And then he describes exactly how to be like him in this. / / Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

See, Jesus is using that connection of this idea of a yoke to the teachings. That’s how the pharisees used it, and he’s saying, that his yoke, or his teachings are light. Again, look at what Jesus is saying in these Beatitudes, right off the bat. The beginning of the sermon on the mount, what life is supposed to look like in the Kingdom - “but don’t worry, my teaching is not like the teaching of the Pharisees.”

The key to finding rest is to be humble and gentle like Jesus, and to do that we must listen to and obey his teaching - but don’t worry, he says, they’re not heavy.

That makes these three parts of humility we’re going to look at very important, because they are part of becoming like Jesus which is going to help bring us to a place of peace.

/ / A. Humility toward God

1 Peter 5:6 says, / / So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.

James echoes the same thing, James 4:10, / / Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

Now of course, we don’t do this so that we will be lifted up in honor, but it’s certainly not a bad outcome.

So, / / what does it mean to humble ourselves before God?

The word actually means to depress; figuratively to humiliate (in condition or heart). What that’s saying is, bring yourself low. As low as you possibly can.

Sometimes it helps to understand something by looking at what it’s not, or the contrast. In the last couple weeks we’ve read the verse where Jesus says he didn’t come for those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sick. That is actually a great description of what we’re talking about here. thinking you are righteous by your own achievements is the height of pride, while recognizing that you are sick and in need of a savior is the very definition of humility.

C.S. Lewis said this about Pride in his book Mere Christianity: According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil:

/ / Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind…

It is pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.

On the other side of things, Jonathan Edwards said, / / We must view humility as one of the most essential things that characterizes true Christianity.

This might be a a difficult thing to grasp for us, but Jesus truly is the very definition of humility and our model for it. Jesus, being God, gave up the reality of heaven and came to earth, submitting himself to the frailty of human flesh, submitted himself to his parents authority, submitted himself to the Father’s leading, submitted himself to the leading of the Holy Spirit, all for the sake of laying down his life to serve the very humanity that he had created. That is humility in its purest form.

So, if what Jesus did is the perfect view of humility, what does it mean for us to be humble before God? It is giving Him everything. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, / / Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Now, humbling ourselves before God is obviously the most important aspect, BUT, as I said earlier, you can’t be humble in one area, neglect another area and think that you’re in any way being humble like God says we are supposed to be. John gives us a pretty strict warning.

1 John 4:20-21, / / If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar, for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.

So, that’s the next part:

/ / B. Humility toward People

For this let’s read Philippians 2:3-8, / / Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Paul is linking the two here. Looking to Jesus as the example of humility both in his obedience toward God, but also in his sacrifice for us. And so he says in the same way we should think of others in how we can serve them.

And talk about a commercial for the Beatitudes… You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. The attitude to be like Christ.

One more scripture. Romans 12:9-10, 13, 16, / / Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

That’s being humble toward people. Work toward loving people. Work toward liking people. Work toward spending more time with people. Work toward being a friend. Honestly, I don’t spend enough time with all y’all. I like you people. And we allow life and busyness to get in the way. I’m not discounting that we all can get pretty busy. That’s facts. I get it. But it’s something we should all be aware of and working toward.

/ / C. Have a Humble View of Yourself

Last area of humility I want to look at, and this is just briefly here, is what it means to be humble yourself.

We just read from Romans 12, but a few verses earlier in vs 3 it says this, / / Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

You may have heard someone tell you that being humble is thinking less of yourself. That’s not 100% true.

Maybe you’ve heard that being humble is thinking about everyone else more than you think about yourself. Also not 100% true.

What Paul is saying here is that we need to have a right perspective of ourselves and others. It’s ok to know exactly who you are. In fact, it’s a pretty good idea. He goes on to say that we’re all members of the same body and belong to each other. Listen, if I don’t know who I am, I don’t know how I’m supposed to contribute to this thing called the Body of Christ. I HAVE to know who I am in order to be the best benefit to you and everyone else.

He’s giving a right understanding of humility. Don’t think you are better than you really are. But don’t think you less than you really are either, Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves.

That’s why what we talked about last week is so important. Being ok with examining our own lives and our own hearts because we have to be ok with ourselves. Be good at who you are and let others see it so they can benefit from it.

And let me just say this. It’s ok to be awesome. It’s ok to be great at things. It’s ok to be really talented and skilled. Just don’t use that as some way to make yourself feel better than the next guy. And don’t think you’re better than you are. It’s ok to be good. It’s ok to fail too. Don’t set yourself up for failure by allowing pride to come in. Remember, pride is the enemy of humility. That is thinking of yourself MORE than you should.

So, Jesus says, Blessed are the meek, or the humble. Blessed are those who know their place in relation to God. Blessed are those who honor the people around them rightly. Blessed are those who know who they are in Christ, who he created them to be and what they have to offer the world around them.

/ / 4. Acceptance of Spirit

The last one we’ll look at today in regards to meekness is our acceptance of the Spirit. And this is really the second part of what we just looked at in regard to humility. That definition we read on being meek says that meekness is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest. Well the last part of the definition says, / / The gentle person is not occupied with self at all. This is a work of the Holy Spirit, not of the human will.

This is a cyclical process. The more we humble ourselves before God, the more he raises us up and gives us what we need. Humility produces greatness that requires humility to remain great.

In Galatians chapter 5 Paul talks about the fruit of the spirit. We talked about this a bit last week. This is the fruit of the Spirit. Not the fruit of rob, not the fruit of y’all, but the fruit of the Spirit. And the fruit of the spirit only grows if we remain connected to the vine, who is Jesus Christ, and who also said that His Father is the vine dresser, or the farmer who looks after the plants to make sure they don’t become diseased and infect the other parts of the plant. The whole trinity is involved in your life exhibiting fruit.

Galatians 5:22-23, / / …the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things.

Alright, what word do you think “gentleness” is there? prautes, which comes from the word praus, from Matthew 5:5, / / Blessed are the meek [humble, gentle]

As you remain connected to the vine and abide in the words and teaching of Jesus, following his way, the Holy Spirit will produce in you the fruit of gentleness.

The grand conclusion:

And what does Jesus promise in Matthew 5:5 when we are meek, or humble, gentle… / / for they will inherit the whole earth.

This may very well be Jesus commenting on Psalm 37:11, which says, / / The lowly will possess the land and will live in peace and prosperity.

And this is a cause and effect scenario. I have not met a person who is truly meek, humble and gentle that does not succeed in some way. They have good relationships, they do well in their jobs, they live at peace with people. There is something to be desired in that.

Yes, you more likely to inherit the natural things of this world good health, wealth and prosperity if you are a meek, humble and gentle. These are keys in how to live next to people. These are ways to living that will invite good things to your life. And that doesn’t always mean more material things, but it does mean a better life.

I think we quoted it earlier, but Proverbs 16:19 says, / / Better to live humbly with the poor than to share plunder with the proud.

Sure if your goal is more things, you may compromise your integrity, but you’ll lose a part of yourself in doing that. And in the end you’ll have things, but you won’t have what truly matters.

Proverbs 17:1 says, / / Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting - and conflict.

Proverbs 21:9, and maybe I get in trouble for this one… / / It’s better to live alone in the corner of an attic than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home.

And let’s just be honest, if you’re hiding in the attic from your quarrelsome wife, I’m gonna be asking what YOU did…

My point is this. There’s a better way to live than fighting, quarreling, arrogance, and loss of integrity, even if it gets you all the things, more money, a bigger home and whatnot. Jesus is inviting us to be meek, humble, gentle of spirit, and in that you will inherit things in this life that those who think they have everything only ever dreamed of having.