A fine example of the upside down values of the Kingdom of God can be seen in the blessing poured out onto the gentle (or humble or meek) – theirs is the earth as an inheritance. This beatitude has an echo from Psalm 37 in it. There it is the wicked who take the earth and its possessions to themselves. They smash and grab their way through life not worried about who gets left behind or who gets trampled underfoot.

How different the lives of Kingdom people are to be! Gentleness, humility and meekness are the main characteristics expected of us; not a coming over people to dominate and take from them, but a coming under to serve and give away.

For their inheritance they are to receive the earth. Here we see a promise to undo the damage done in the fall where authority over creation was lost by humanity and given over to the enemy. Through the return of God’s Kingdom rule authority is restored to a redeemed humanity and the earth becomes our inheritance once again. The Kingdom is not some heavenly place beyond the sky, therefore, but is God’s rule here in creation.

Gentleness; I used to really struggle with it as a way of being. It’s something I still have to work on. Certain childhood experiences made me a person who was very determined not to come under anyone, not to be dominated. The fact that partial healing has come to those memories has meant that I am at least able to explore gentleness now. And this shows that Kingdom power is not what comes after we’ve achieved this lifestyle, but that it is available to help us become the people God originally designed us to be.

Is being gentle something you struggle with?