Dear Pastor’s Wife,

Psalm 37:11 “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”

    Today I wanted to chat with you about meekness. My favourite definition of this term is “strength or power under control.” It’s basically living like “I could, but I won’t.” And oh, how we need this restraint in ministry. In this Psalm, David is merely repeating what Christ said in Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” 

      Ministry {and family living, for that matter} offers us many chances to either be meek or be proud and assertive.  Sheep have minds of their own, are fond of scattering in different directions and are not always fond of being led. {And, ahem…we are sheep too!} But those of us in leadership need to especially exercise meekness in the lives of those we are an example to. We all know people in our lives who blow up at others or who lead by unreasonable strictness, force, and even abuse. This type of leadership is not Christlike, nor does it encourage people to follow our lead.

Meekness is an exercise of  daily, Spirit-led self discipline.

    But….has being meek ever left you frustrated? After the confrontation, after the meeting, after the accusations, after the shocking expectations…you think of what you could have said or done. Sometimes we even label it as “what I should have said.”  No doubt right now you are recalling a situation where you did not get to speak your mind or even defend yourself, and you were left wondering what the point was of remaining calm while you were attacked. But the truth? If you were meek in those situations and did not lash out in return, but spoke with humility and with your power under control, then you made a Christ-honoring choice that God will eternally bless!

     God promises future blessing, a heavenly inheritance, an abundance of peace to those who are meek.  In Psalm 149:4 He even promises to personally beautify the meek with salvation. So, let’s determine afresh to lead with gentle grace. Let’s daily decide “I could….but I won’t.”  You will not regret this choice…ever!  God, true to His Word, will make sure of it.

XOXO,

A Kindred Spirit

P.S.  Your hair looks lovely today! 🙂