Blessed are the meek... do you know the Greek definition of meek?

[Joe Wagner]

When Christ preached the Beatitudes in the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount, He said, "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." Matthew's Gospel was written in Greek. Do you know what the Greek definition of meekness is? It is two-fold actually. The first definition, according to the Greek Philospher Aristotle no less, is this: meekness (in the greek: "praortes") is the perfect balance between the man/woman who is the absolute pushover who never gets angry at anything and the man/woman who absolutely rages at everything. Meekness is the perfect balance between being a pushover and being belligerant. Essentially, one could write the Beatitude this way: Blessed is the man who gets angry at the right time and never gets angry at the wrong time, for he shall inherit the earth. I had a pastor explain it to me best this way, too often the church majors on the minor things and minors on the major things. Having the correct focus, an eternal focus, is what we as believers have to have. We need to get fired up about the sins of this world and do our best, by the Grace of God, to do our best to fix it. We need to be Meek in the Greek sense of the world, being bold as a lion when proclaiming the gospel. We need to do this whether we are handing out CDs/DVDs/tapes or tracts or in sharing the Grace of Our Savior personally or even in just inviting others to church. This pertains to all outreach. The second meaning of the Greek word for meekness, "Praortes," is a direct contrast to another Greek word "hupsulakardia." That second word, hupsularkardia, means someone who is self-righteous or lofty-minded. Meekness is not about thinking we have everything all figured out. Meekness is having the humility not just to accept Jesus as Savior, but also as Lord. Meekness is seeking His direction in all things. I really found this enlightening and as something to think about as I studied for my sermon on the Beatitudes. It is a life-changing kind of a thing. I hope you found it as interesting. God Bless, joe

[Pat McDonnell]

That's good Joe.
I believe that the steps that Jesus laid out to be blessed build on one another. And I think that the first four steps correspond perfectly with II Chronicles 7:14 , (If we humble ourselves and turn from evil then he will hear from heaven and heal us) and with James 4:4 –10 (as we see ourselves as adulterers and enemies of God due to our love for the sin on this world and humble ourselves before him, resisting the devil, and submitting to God then He will give us grace, draw near to us, and lift us up)

Poor in Spirit - Seeing yourself in truth, Wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked and humble yourself
Mourn - Grieving over how you have offended God in so many ways.
Meek - Choose to please God instead of yourself.
Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness – Begin to daily cry out to be rid of evil and be holy as he is holy.

As we take these four steps in corporation with the Holy Spirit He begins to transform us to take the next steps to be blessed as we walk with him.

Merciful- Now that you have seen yourself in truth you don’t look down your nose on others but you
love.
Pure in heart – God gives you a heart like his so you see things the way He does.
Peacemakers- You no longer stir up strife but want folks to be reconciled to God and eachother.
Persecuted - When you live like this you’re hated by most because your life is a rebuke to those
around you.