Blessed are the meek

"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."

Matthew 5:5

There is a logical progression in the thinking of the Beatitudes -- a spiritual logical sequence, from “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” – those people who are empty, beggars, coming before God to be fed with “food” that lasts a lifetime to “Blessed are those that mourn,” – those people who mourn over their own sins plus the sins of others to finally (in terms of this article) the third step: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Each new step is dependent upon the last step and gets increasingly harder as we ascend the ladder.


Being poor in spirit and mourning involve only me; being meek requires someone else to be meek toward. Hence, this rung of the ladder gets more difficult. It’s not just between me and God anymore; it’s between me, God and you. Whereas on the first two rungs I've looked only at myself (not selfishly but humbly), now I must also consider you, as you look at me.


Paul tells us in Phil. 2:3 to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than [ourselves]. Each of [us] should look not only to [our] own interests, but also to the interests of others.” If we have placed ourselves before God -- poor in spirit/mourning -- we are exactly where we need to be to “consider others better than ourselves.” If I am no longer concerned about me, then naturally my attention can be turned toward you.

part one