One reality of life that many people, particularly children of God, find difficult to believe is that a meek person can be offended. People who are meek are assumed to always be calm and saint-like, and hence people around them tend to take them for granted and abuse them in many ways. We all know that meekness is a constituent of the fruit of the Spirit, but Ephesians 4:30 clearly shows that the Holy Spirit can be offended. For this reason, you need to realise that the person carrying the Holy Spirit can also be offended.

Although Numbers 12:3 describes Moses as the meekest among all men on the face of the earth, in Numbers 20:1-12, this same man got so upset that instead of speaking to the rock as God commanded, he struck it with the rod twice, to the Lord’s displeasure. The consequence of this outburst of anger and frustration by Moses was grievous: the Lord rebuked him and denied him entrance into the Promised Land, after forty years of labouring hard to lead all the Israelites from Egypt.

The key lesson we need to learn from Moses’ experience is that our brethren and leaders are all still living in human bodies, and so we need to be sensitive to their humanity and not overstretch them because we believe that as meek people, they will not break. Another lesson is that the meek should not allow themselves to be solely people-driven; they should instead focus on following the instructions given by God.

While we live in this human body, we will always experience offence or provocations from different sources. However, we need to exercise self-control, which is another constituent of the fruit of the Spirit, in all situations. The Bible is clear that only the foolish burst out in anger; you must refuse to be foolish. Proverbs 14:17a says,
“He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly:”

Beloved, what are you known for? Are you the kind of person that engages in confrontation with everyone, or are you known to be an example of someone who manifests the fruit of the Spirit?
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.