Meekness: the most Underrated Quality of Good Leaders

Psalms 37:5-11

 In Psalms 37 verse 11, we are told that the meek will inherit the earth. Jesus repeats these words in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” A person who reads this will probably think that weak or mousy people are the ones to whom Jesus is referring, but that is not true. In the biblical or spiritual sense meekness has a different meaning than the contemporary meaning of meekness. A dictionary is not going to be sufficient to give an accurate meaning of meekness.

A better way to understand meekness is to look at two people from the Bible. Both Moses Jesus had qualities of meekness. Although Jesus is the best example of meekness we can find, Moses is worth looking at to get a better understanding of meekness.

 Numbers 12:3 3
Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.


Moses had a burden for his people and by submitting to God, Moses was able to help free his people while glorifying God.  At first Moses tried to do this on his own and had to flee after he murdered a task master secretly (Exodus 2 11).  In Exodus 3, we read that Moses has an encounter with an Angel of the Lord and submits to God. By submitting to God, he is able to free and lead the Israelites out. Moses develops from an angry, fearful, fugitive to a mighty miracle working leader of the Jewish nation. Like many good leaders Moses tries to do too much because this burden requires so much work. His Uncle Jethro, sees that Moses is sacrificing too much and cannot continue the work and advises Moses to delegate to others (Exodus 18:17). Moses understood the responsibilities that came with his burden, and he also understood he needed to be just and upright. Moses ordered 3000 Israelites to be executed after he came down the mountain with Joshua and the Ten Commandments (Exodus 32:19 -27). A meek person in the Bible is one that is burdened to do good works and although he may be gentle, he will be strong and do what is right.

Jesus takes biblical meekness to another level in that He, too, was burdened, but he also completely sacrificed self to do the work of His Father. Jesus never stopped resisting evil even when he was lead to His execution. In submitting to the will of the Father, Jesus was able to serve (John 13 14-15), be moved to help even when exhausted (Mark 6:34), resist revenge and his own will (John 18:11), and never had to prove anything to anyone including His main adversary (Luke 4:3). Jesus did the will of the Father to point of completely losing himself. Yet in his death on his cross, He was victorious. Meekness cannot be defeated. A strong man may conquer and take by force, but eventually he will lose in the end. Jesus proved that the meek will succeed and inherit the earth.

Meekness also produces good results.

a.       Promotion

                                                        i.      God will use the meek. Moses was put in power, as was David, as was Joseph as He will with you to serve God’s purpose. Psalms 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

b.      Justice

                                                        i.      Psalms 37:6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

                                                      ii.      We need to do the right thing. Our integrity will show and eventually justice will come. Justice without compassion leads to abuse, violence

c.       Wisdom

                                                        i.      Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

d.      Contentment

                                                        i.      We submit to God’s will and are content with what we have.

e.       Peace

                                                        i.      Psalms 37:11 But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Resolve conflict through P.E.A.C.E. *

Place your faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22, 5:1)        

Employ prayer in your decisions (Philippians 4:6-7)       

Adjust your focus from yourself (Proverbs 18.1)      

Control your anger and tongue (Proverbs 21:23, 29:11)     

Exude your humility and mercy (Proverbs 13:10)

*(Pollock, F. (2008). An encouraging word [Video].


However, meekness requires active effort including practicing integrity, being patient, exercising responsibility, practicing forgiveness, and submitting to God. Abiding and Jesus and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in your heart will allow the fruit of meekness to manifest. By being meek, God can use you as a leader. Finally, the children of God have the quality of meekness and they inherit the earth.