Who was the greatest male influence you had in your life?

• One old proverb says, “A father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.”
• In our day, we need a definition of manhood that is not influenced primarily by the

or by negative examples in life. We need a convictional manhood that is objectively defined and built upon the truths of God’s Word.
• Biblical manhood is more

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than taught. It’s not a list of rules. It is learned over years of relationship.

The Case for Meekness in Manhood

• In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus began by sharing with us 8

called “The Beatitudes.”
• The word “beatitude” comes from the Latin word for “

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,” which is the word that Jesus uses to introduce each beatitude.
• These beatitudes are not characteristics that we seek to

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in order to acquire God’s blessing. Rather, like the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, these traits will be found in those who are truly

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with God.
• The third trait that Jesus mentions is

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>> Matthew 5:5 | Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
• William Barclay opens our eyes though to the real point of the matter when he paraphrases, “Blessed is the man WHO IS ALWAYS ANGRY AT THE RIGHT TIME AND NEVER ANGRY AT THE WRONG TIME, WHO HAS EVERY INSTINCT, AND IMPULSE, AND PASSION UNDER CONTROL BECAUSE HE HIMSELF IS GOD-CONTROLLED, WHO HAS THE HUMILITY TO REALIZE HIS OWN IGNORANCE AND HIS OWN WEAKNESS, FOR SUCH A MAN IS A KING AMONG MEN!”

Real Meekness

• The best definition of meekness that I have heard is “

under

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.”
• God created men to be strong — physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually.
• Mighty, meek men recognize God designed them for strength, but that apart from Jesus they are weak and can do

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.
• Tozer >> The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather, he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God’s estimate of his own life…He knows well that the world will never see him as God sees him and he has stopped caring.
• Philippians 2:5-8 is one of the greatest passages explaining the meekness of

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What does this mean for us?

• Do you

? Meekness implies submission to God but it is not a passive submission that shrugs its shoulders and says, “Oh well, I can’t do anything about it anyway,” but it is an active submission, a choosing to accept God’s ways without murmuring or disputing.
• Are you afraid to do the

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thing even when it hurts? Meekness is not cowardice, emotional flabbiness, lack of conviction, complacency, timidity or the willingness to have peace at any cost.
• Are you afraid of taking the

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? Meekness isn’t indecisiveness, wishy-washiness, or a lack of confidence. The meek person is gentle and mild in his own cause, though he may be a lion in God’s cause or in defending others.
• Are you worried about self-

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? Meekness is not weakness, but meekness does not use its power for its own defense or selfish purposes. Meekness is controlled strength or power completely surrendered to God’s control. It is an attitude of heart in which all energies are brought into the perfect control of the Holy Spirit.
• Are you intimidated by strong godly

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? Meekness as strength under control does not use its strength to subject strong godly women. Instead, strong men & strong women can exist in God-glorifying harmony when they are both following the Spirit.

Application Questions

1. What is meekness?
   

2. How did we see meekness in the life of Jesus?
   

3. How does meekness shape your understanding of manhood?
   

4. What are some ways that strong men have positively shaped your life?
   

5. How does the vision of manhood today challenge you?