“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5 CSB)
Devotional
A Clydesdale could flatten a person without trying. They’re enormous, built for raw force. And yet you’ll see one stand still at the lightest tug of the reins, all that power held completely in check by trust in the one holding the lead. That’s meekness. Not weakness. Strength that has somewhere better to put itself than proving a point.
We’re three Beatitudes in now, and there’s a thread connecting them. We admit we’re spiritually empty, we let that break our hearts, and somewhere in that humbling, meekness starts to grow. That’s a hard sell in a culture that rewards the loudest person in the room. We’re told to assert ourselves, defend our reputation, make sure nobody walks over us. Meekness sounds, on paper, like a losing strategy.
But watch what it actually looks like in practice. It’s the conversation where you could win the argument but you choose to listen instead. It’s getting passed over for something you deserved and not spending the next month proving your worth to everyone who’ll listen. I’ve had to bite my tongue more than once in a season where I felt overlooked, and it never felt like losing once I actually did it. It felt like trusting someone bigger than the moment to handle my reputation for me.
That’s the whole point. The meek aren’t doormats. They’re people who’ve handed the reins to someone they trust completely, so they don’t have to fight for every inch themselves. And Jesus says it’s that kind of person, not the one clawing for control, who ends up inheriting the earth.
Reflection
Where am I currently trying to force an outcome instead of trusting God with it? What would it look like to hand him the reins on that one thing today instead of gripping it myself?
Prayer
Father, we confess how often we try to muscle our way through life instead of trusting you. Teach us what real meekness looks like. Help us hold our strength loosely, knowing you’re a better defender of our lives than we’ll ever be. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Tomorrow we get honest about appetite: what are we actually hungry for?