Tag Archive | meek and quiet spirit

The Beauty of a Meek and Quiet Spirit

Oct6

When I was a child, about ten years old, we embarked upon a family vacation which included a trip to the Smithsonian Institute. I recall very little of that experience, except for one portion of the museum which I shall never forget. As we strolled through the museum, I was absolutely captivated as my young eyes beheld the magnificence of those sparkling gems in the Smithsonian Gem Gallery. Never had I seen such beauty as the lights shined upon those remarkable stones, radiating an elegance and loveliness which I had never before seen.

In years since, I have unsuccessfully searched for photographs or images of gems which reflect that beauty. I have repeatedly found that only the real life experience of viewing those radiant stones, as the light shined upon them in those displays, could ever reveal their true magnificence.

I share this experience for one reason. I am fully persuaded that the words which I will write on this page are totally incapable of reflecting the beauty of a “meek and quiet spirit.” It will take the Lord Himself to shine His light upon these truths in a life for anyone to truly experience the deep beauty referred to as a “meek and quiet spirit.”

Why do I say that a meek and quiet spirit is full of beauty? Let’s examine the Scriptures. In contrasting outward beauty with inward beauty, the Word of God says:

… rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle (meek) and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. 1 Peter 3:4

A meek and quiet spirit is beautiful because God calls it beautiful. It is found hidden within the heart, and it is an incorruptible beauty. Outward beauty will most certainly age, fade, and ultimately decay, but inward beauty is incorruptible. It doesn’t age, decay, or fade away. And what is this inward beauty? It is a meek and quiet spirit … and when God sees that kind of spirit within someone, He says it is of great value, that it is very precious. Now don’t misunderstand. The world and most people would not consider it valuable at all, but it is precious in the sight of God.

Since we can see that it is a beauty that God commends, we must be sure that we truly understand what a meek and quiet spirit is. First, it is an inward beauty of the heart. Knowing that the Word of God says that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), how could it ever be described as incorruptible beauty? What a contrast!

So let’s examine our words.

If you check multiple Bible dictionaries, you will discover these basic meanings for meekness and quietness.

Meekness is that disposition of spirit in which we accept God’s dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. In the Old Testament the meek were those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend against injustice. Gentleness or meekness is the opposite to self-assertiveness. It stems from trust in God’s goodness and control over the situation.

Meekness, therefore, is complete trust and confidence in God’s goodness toward His children. It doesn’t resist or complain. It trusts God.

Quietness carries with it the meaning of stillness, calmness, and tranquility. It is not disturbed by outward circumstances, and also causes no disturbance to others.

Therefore, a meek and quiet spirit is an inner attitude that is calm, undisturbed and undisturbing because that heart is trusting in God’s control and His goodness toward His children. And God says that it is of great value, very precious in His sight.

Now to magnify the beauty of this spirit, let’s place the meaning of these words in the context where we find them in Scripture. In 1 Peter 2:13-3:17, the Apostle Peter is instructing believers to properly submit to authority. Within the passage he exemplifies how this is to be done, even if one has a difficult or unreasonable authority. He gives that instructions to servants. He gives the same instruction to wives that have difficult husbands – those who are disobedient to the Word. But, more magnificently, He uses Christ as our very example of meekness and quietness when he was so unjustly treated.

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO committed NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; … 1 Peter 2:21-23.

Examine the passage closely. Can you see Christ’s meekness and quietness, completely trusting the Father who judges righteously? That magnitude of trust is beautiful indeed! And for us to walk in that kind of trust will take God Himself working in and through us. Yes, meekness is a part of the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Meekness and quietness … very precious in the sight of God.

May I return for a moment to my reference to the magnificent, sparkling gemstones that radiated so beautifully in the Smithsonian? Did you know that in study of gemstones, one finds a few common facts. Gemstones are always considered a rare formation. Amazingly, they are formed right within the earth. However, either intense heat or intense pressure (or both) is the catalyst required for the formation of those rare, but radiant stones.

In a similar way, God often uses “intense heat and intense pressure” (difficult circumstances) to form the rare beauty of a meek and quiet spirit within His people. As the Scripture declares, it is incorruptible beauty! And it is very precious in His sight. May we learn more and more to trust God’s control, God’s goodness, and God’s great love in every aspect of our lives! What beauty He is able to form!

… for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, … Philippians 2:13-15

The Unwise Woman

Dec11

The Unwise Woman

Perhaps one of the biggest and most frequent mistakes that wives make in their marriages is looking at their husbands to judge their spirituality.  It has proven to be the place of stumbling for many.  Although this place of stumbling is not confined to the husband-wife relationship, as it may be observed among many Christian relationships, it occurs so frequently in marriages that, as wives, we must ever guard against this critical error.

To understand how to guard against this error, we must first understand its cause.  It is very common in Christian circles to find marriages where one spouse is a Christian and the other an unbeliever.  Sometimes it is the wife who has been saved and finds herself now married to an unsaved or unspiritual man.  However, sometimes the reverse is true.  It is the husband who is saved, and he now finds himself married to a wife who is uninterested in spiritual things.  It is rare to find both a husband and wife loving the Lord and seeking His will and ways for their lives.  For those of you who are in a marriage with a spiritual spouse, it is truly a blessing from the Lord which you should cherish and for which you should be deeply thankful.

But what of the Christian wife that feels that her husband is a weight that she seems to drag behind?  Perhaps he is an unbeliever.  Perhaps he is a believer, but is not a spiritually mature man.  This is where the problem arises.  The Christian wife often reads much about the Christian life and the Christian family.  She listens to sermons and tapes.  She attends Bible studies.  She has heartfelt desires to bring up her children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  And as good as those Christian resources may be, the wife often builds within her mind an expectation of what her husband should be.  Then, in reality, when she looks at him, she sees that he falls short of this “model man” that she has built within her mind.

Additionally, she may look around at other Christian men that she knows.  Forgetting that she only knows them from a distance and rarely sees their shortcomings, she compares her husband to those men, and again, the husband comes up way short.  How unwise is this trap into which she falls!  The Apostle Paul spoke of those in Corinth who put together information in a wrong manner and looked upon the outward appearance as those who were not wise:  but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise (2 Corinthians 10:12).

The danger that arises when we measure others by ourselves or by others, or when we compare others to ourselves or to others, is that we can never arrive at God’s view.  Most often we will lift our hearts up in pride and criticize the other, or we will see good things in the other and become discouraged with ourselves.  With God there is no partiality.  All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  All need His grace and mercy.  How important it is that we learn the importance of these truths:  Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant?  To his own master he standeth or falleth.  Yea, he shall be holden up:  for God is able to make him stand (Romans 14:4).  And:  Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God (Romans 15:7).  The Lord does call the spiritual person to seek to restore one overtaken in a fault, but even with that instruction, it is given to the spiritual-minded person.  And even then, it is accompanied by an admonition that it be done in meekness and only after considering oneself.  For if one thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he only deceives himself (Galatians 6:3).

How does this all apply to the Christian wife?  She is never to hold up her own expectations for her husband.  She is never to strive to have him minister in the church according to her desires and her plans.  He is the man that the Lord created, both physically and spiritually.  Is he is unsaved?  Salvation is a work of the Lord.  She can never accomplish that work in him.  She must wait for the Lord’s timing.  If her husband is a Christian, she must still allow the Lord to lead her husband.  Often the wife’s voice speaks so loudly and so frequently that because of the noise that she creates, her husband does not hear the Lord’s voice.  How we need to be reminded that the husband has a Head.  His Head is Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3), and what a perfect Head He is!

Whatever the plan is for a husband, only God knows, and only God can accomplish that plan!  What, then, is a wife to do if her husband is unsaved or unspiritual?  The Word of God answers that question so completely.  The wife is to subject herself to her husband, allowing the Lord in her life to shine through.  It will not be what she speaks, but it will be the life that she lives that will show forth the Lord.  With a meek and quiet spirit that remains calm and sure as she trusts in God, God will often do a mighty work in others (1 Peter 3:1-6).

The best encouragement for any wife in this position is to lay down her own expectations for her husband.  She must lay down her own plans and desires.  She must lay down her own will and ways and focus upon being the wife that God desires her to be, and remember that if someone were to line up her life with a “model woman,” she, too, would fall short.  She cannot allow her focus to dwell upon her husband’s shortcomings.  She must look for the areas in his life where she can offer up thanksgiving to the Lord.  When the complaint arises as to how lacking her husband is in submission to the Lord, always she must  ask herself the question of how submissive she is to her husband.  Most often when we are finding fault with them we have forgotten our own sin, weaknesses, and faults.  We have lifted our own hearts up in pride – and what a great sin that is!

Who is an unwise woman?  She measures her husband by others and compares her husband with others.  This critical error will never give her God’s view.  And it will always cause her to lose respect for her husband!

May the Lord Himself give us a heart to see as He sees and then to love as He loves!

What Is a Meek and Quiet Spirit?

Nov13

image … whose adorning … let it be the hidden man of the heart

even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,

which is in the sight of God of great price.

1 Peter 3:3-4

 

We hear much of the Christian woman having a meek and quiet spirit.  Many loudly object.  Others rigidly attempt to conform.  But what is a meek and quiet spirit?  Do we really understand the meaning of that phrase?  Or – have we taken someone else’s meaning, or – have we even invented a meaning of our own?

Let’s look at those words in the Scripture to understand, first of all, what a meek and quiet spirit is, and then, how that kind of a heart will affect the whole of our lives.

Meekness is not a word that just describes what a woman is to be.  The word, in actuality, describes what every Christian should be.

  • Moses was described as a very meek man, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3).
  • Jesus said of Himself:  I am meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29).
  • In His teachings, Jesus Himself declared: Blessed are the meek:  for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).
  • The wise man who is endued with knowledge is described as a man whose behavior demonstrates the meekness of wisdom (James 3:13).

We can readily see, then, that meekness is a quality that should be possessed by all Christians.

What, then, does this word meekness include?  Meekness is referred to in 1 Peter 3:4 as being in the hidden man of the heart.  It is an inward quality – something hidden – hidden deep within the Christian heart.

The heart of meekness knows of a certainty that God’s dealings with us are good.  The Scripture declares:  If God be for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)?  Therefore, meekness does not resist, meekness does not fret, meekness does not worry, and meekness does not dispute.  It is a heart that is settled upon both the goodness and the power of God, upon both the love and the might of God.  It simply trusts God to do as He wills, according to His good pleasure.  This quality of meekness should be evident in all of God’s people.

Quietness will, of a necessity, accompany meekness.  Because meekness dwells in the hidden man of the heart, quietness will result in that life.

Does this mean that the meek person will never speak?  Although meekness will certainly affect the way that one speaks and the extent to which one speaks, the primary meaning of this word does not deal so much with speaking as with the demeanor of one’s life.  With a heart that is settled and resting in God’s goodness and His control of every situation, a calm assurance will be exhibited in any and all situations.  To grasp an understanding of the word quietness, we will again return to the Scriptures.  (Note: The word that is underlined in each reference is the same word translated as quietness.)

  • We are instructed to pray for leaders and those in authority so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty (1 Timothy 2:2).
  • We are commanded and exhorted by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work and eat their own bread (2 Thessalonians 3:12).
  • Again, we are exhorted to study to be quiet (1 Thessalonians 4:11).  This verse has the meaning of:  Make it your aim to exhibit this calm, undisturbed demeanor.
  • Listen to the same word used in Acts 21:14:  And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”  One can hear the heart resting in God’s will.
  • Again, listen to this same word used, though translated in a different way: And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment (Luke 23:56).

The word quietness seems to carry with it a meaning of:  undisturbed, peaceful, calm rest.  Think back to the word meekness.  Can you see how easily these two words go together?

As we join the meaning of these two words, we find a meek and quiet spirit to be that inward heart attitude that is assured of God’s love and control and rests peacefully in Him, no matter the circumstances.

As we look back to 1 Peter 3:1-6, we find the context of this passage to be for the woman who has a husband that does not obey the Word.  What is to be her heart attitude?  Should we see a fretting heart, a resisting heart, or a complaining spirit?  According to the truth of the Word of God, no.

On the contrary, we should see a woman who, by her pure and chaste behavior, adorns the doctrine of Christ so that her Lord may be seen in her life.  From that meekness and quietness that is within, comes a calm outward demeanor, fully trusting in her God.

Did you notice that 1 Peter 3 began with the word likewise?  That word is saying that just like what has been previously described, she should exhibit the same attitude.

Look back into 1 Peter 2:18-20.  Wouldn’t a servant with a harsh master also have to possess a meek and quiet spirit to respond in a godly manner?

Then read on – in verses 21-24, we see the wonderful example of that meek and quiet spirit demonstrated by Christ Himself as He entrusted Himself to Him who judges righteously.

And for our final thought – Do not think that meekness and quietness will only be exhibited in the husband and wife relationship.  In all circumstances of life, and in every situation that arises, the Christian woman should find her heart resting in the goodness and the power of God.

From this meek heart will flow an undisturbed peace and calm that will be exhibited in her life.

Truly a meek and quiet spirit is an adornment that is precious in the sight of God!

It is evidence of simple faith, trusting in the Faithful One.

The above post was first printed in Dawning Light © 2002.