Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Colossians 3:12-14 ESV
The next attitude listed is in direct contrast to what the world teaches us is acceptable or right, but God specifically chose meekness as a way to demonstrate love toward another person. Everything about our culture today day tells us we have the right to a voice, and that we should stand up for our rights and be heard. When offended, this world teaches us we should fight back, and that we are justified in our anger. These are all responses that are opposite of meekness. We have moved into an online age where it is suddenly okay to assault one another with our words because we disagree, or to rise up over one another in a verbal challenge when there is a difference of opinions. When people feel wronged today, they feel it is their right to respond with angry words and even violent actions.
So when our spouses offend us, we hear those same voices telling us we don’t have to take it, that nobody should treat us that way. When they disrespect us or neglect our needs, we feel we have a right to rise up in response and demand a change. Our world tells us that everything should be equal in the home, so rather than doing the dishes, you demand your spouse take care of them. The world tells us,”You don’t have to take that”, “Why do you let them treat you like that?”, or ”I’d never stay married to a spouse who did that.”
Being meek is the opposite of all this. It is in direct contrast to what the world dictates our response should be. Meekness is gentle. It is a willingness to suffer the injustices that sin brings, even when we have been wronged. It restraining our own power to respond, making room for others to have their way. The world views meek as weak, but anyone who has tried to practice a meek attitude knows it takes an incredible amount of strength and grace from God to choose a gentle response when they have been wronged.
Meek is putting the phone down when you receive an inflammatory text and choosing not to respond, meek is choosing to love and serve your husband, even and especially when they’re grumpy or having a bad day. Meek is choosing to do the dishes again tonight, and it’s handing over the remote. Meek is not making a big deal out of the fact that your spouse often thinks of themselves first, or that they didn’t seem to notice your bad day. Meek is letting them have the win. Meek is respecting your spouse even when they don’t seem to respect you, meek is bowing your heart and looking at your own wrong in a conflict instead of focusing on the other person’s sin. Meek is looking in the mirror in a difficult relationship at your own responsibility.
Meek is a state of heart that is contradictory to our natural bent, and to what the world teaches us. All this means meek is an attitude we have to CHOOSE over and over again because it’s not instinctual. Not only is it not innate, but since the world reinforces the bold response, we must be even more intentional about choosing the gentle response.
Meekness is in direct opposition to what the world teaches, and what our inner heart desires when responding, but it is what God calls us to do when we are loving one another. God knows the battle in our hearts. He knows it is only through the strength and grace of the Holy Spirit that we can respond with a meek attitude in our marriages—He does this so that we know it is His response and not our own.
Press on ~ you are loved 💗
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