Blessed are the Gentle

 "Blessed are the gentle..." Matthew 5:5 (NAS)

In most Bibles this passage reads, "Blessed are the meek..." but meekness is not a 'popular' virtue these days. In novels, someone who is meek and unthreatening usually is not the hero of the story! When we think meek, we think downtrodden and almost certainly miserable, at least I do! 

What does it mean really, and more importantly what did Jesus mean? In the Amplified Bible, it reads, "the mild, patient and long-suffering". In Wikipedia it says, "restraining one's own power so as to allow room for others." So apparently meek can mean one has inner strength, self-control. Saint Paul described a servant of the Lord to Timothy, that he "must be gentle, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose." (2 Timothy 2:24–25) One has to be strong to be meek! 

Usually when I think I am wronged, I get ready for a fight. I’ve been working on withdrawing funds from a well known insurance and investment company for months now and it’s been difficult to say the least. I got so frustrated I asked if they were going bankrupt and requested for another agent in a voice that was definitely not meek. I got what I wanted, but I did not inherit the earth! In Matthew 5:5, Jesus says that the meek, the gentle, the patient inherit the earth! Shouldn't we practice meekness, patience and gentleness then? Let's be on the lookout for opportunities to practice self-control so the Lord can give us our inheritance!