🐑 Being Meek (Matthew 5:5)

When I was a young teen, I remember reading Matthew 5:5:
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

I found myself struggling to understand it. I told my friend back then, “Can you be lowly and meek in today’s day and age? It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, the survival of the fittest! You cannot inherit the earth by just being humble. You earn it by being the most successful, richest person in the world!”

I was very naive back then! I totally missed Jesus’ point—I thought that being meek meant to have low self-esteem so that you’ll be “blessed” and have things go your way. However, Jesus did not say, “Blessed are those with ‘low self-esteem’.” Instead, he told his disciples that the ones who will be blessed are those who are humble.

What does it mean to be humble? Rather than to think lesser of ourselves, it’s to think of ourselves less. For example, to love someone, we must sacrifice ourselves and our time to be with them. This is a picture of being ready and willing to serve others. We can see that Jesus modeled this throughout his whole life. He loved his disciples and everyone and served them selflessly.

Revisiting it now, I can see that meekness is the attitude of the heart, and that it is an attitude to want to serve. God is looking for people whom He can entrust things to and who resonate with Him and His values. May we strive to be like Jesus, to be ready and willing to serve God!

Summary by Evan