Leading The Way - Devotional for February 21
February 21, 2025
Blessed Are Those Who Die to Self
By Michael Youssef, Ph.D.
When someone is meek, society says they must be weak, indecisive, or timid—maybe even spineless and cowardly. And so, in our culture, the meek are pushed aside while the aggressive and assertive inherit the earth. But not according to Jesus. In Jesus’ time, meek was used to describe the soothing effect of medicine. It described the effect of a gentle breeze upon a sail or a wild animal who had been tamed and broken in. Medicine, wind, and horses all have power, and if their power is under control, wonderful things happen. If their power is out of control, devastation results. In other words, meekness is not weakness; it is power under control.
You are meek when you have power to hurt those who have hurt you, but you don’t; when you have the power to tarnish your enemy’s reputation, but you refuse; when you have the power to destroy the one who hates you, but you refrain. That is meekness according to Jesus Christ. That is power under control. And the meek inherit the earth.
You usually receive an inheritance when someone else dies. But Jesus is telling us here that your inheritance comes when you die. When you die to self, you grow in meekness. When you die to control, you grow in meekness. When you die to scheming, you grow in meekness. And when you grow in meekness, you inherit all things in Christ Jesus.
Prayer: Jesus, work in me the humility, meekness, and compassion to control my selfish impulses—even becoming self-forgetful. I want to seek the good of others as You have done. May I die to self by Your Spirit at work within me. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).
Learn more in Dr. Michael Youssef’s sermon The Master’s Manifesto, Part 3: LISTEN NOW
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