gentleness of Christ', Paul, the one in authority, can find it in his

heart to condescend to `beseech' (2 Cor. 10:1).  See also 1 Corinthians 4:21.

Meekness is no product of the flesh.  When the flesh attempts to bring forth

humility and meekness it produces such creatures as Uriah Heep who was `very

`umble', who writhed and twisted in his excessive humility, but who was

nevertheless a monster of hypocrisy.

`But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,

gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance' (Gal. 5:22,23).

Against such, continues the Scripture, there is no law.  The `touch not,

taste not, handle not' of Colossians 2 is a sure sign of the false humility.

This spirit of meekness ever looks back to our state by nature and our liability

to fall:

`Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual,

restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest

thou also be tempted' (Gal. 6:1).

Meekness must go hand in hand with authority and teaching:

`In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure

will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth' (2 Tim.

Moses, whose position raised him infinitely above his fellows, with whom

God spoke face to face, is recorded as being `very meek, above all the men which

were upon the face of the earth' (Num. 12:3).  If Moses was meek, if Paul was

meek, yea, if the Lord of Life and Glory was `meek and lowly of heart', who are

we to dare to walk abroad with high look, or to act towards our fellows in a

vain show?  Without opening the Book, could our readers name the first positive

thing said of love in 1 Corinthians 13?:

`Charity (Love) suffereth long, and is kind' (verse 4).

Humility of mind and meekness are accompanied by this first expression of

love, viz., longsuffering.  Like meekness it is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal.

5:22).  It is placed as the goal of the believer's walk in the parallel passage

of Colossians 1:10,11:

`unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness'.

When Paul would set his own doctrine and practice before Timothy as an

antidote to the selfishness that will characterize the perilous times of the

last days, he says to him:

`But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith,

longsuffering, charity, patience' (2 Tim. 3:10).

We gather from various allusions in the epistles that Timothy was of a

retiring, shrinking nature.  The rudiments of this world would teach such to

develop self-assertion, to see to it that others were kept well informed of

their authority.  What says the wisdom of God?:

`Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke,

exhort with all Longsuffering and Doctrine' (2 Tim. 4:2).