But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. — Galatians 5:22-23

What is a virtue, and what makes it good and desirable? Virtues are high moral qualities, and they garner honor because we see them as strengths, talents, assets. A virtue is made of merits and advantages. They have potency and force—they are purities with power. Love can move mountains. Loyalty stands as a rock in a tornado. Joy sets the whole room dancing. Goodness is a courageous bulwark against the corrosion of evil.

Virtues are praiseworthy, for they have the brawn of maturity. Both feminine fortitude and masculine hardiness are the things of which virtues are made. A feeble virtue sounds like vegan alligator. Such a thing doesn’t exist, and if it did, it should be put out of its misery. And yet, the eighth spiritual fruit of Galatians 5:22-23 is gentleness or meekness. How can this be a virtue of the Spirit’s power?

What is the anatomy of meekness?

The first problem with this eighth fruit is what to call it, and this, actually, is not an easy task. Just in the English Standard Version (ESV), this word for gentleness, πραΰτης (prautēs), gets translated in four different ways: gentleness, humility, courtesy, and meekness. The King James Version (KJV) has the classic meekness. Other translations add modesty and gentle behavior to the list. This brings the total to six, so which one is it? So far, the spiritual fruits have been easily recognizable for us, like apples, peaches, pears, and oranges in the grocery store. Yet, number eight is more like a durian fruit, a lychee nut, or a dragon fruit.

The fact is there is no one single word in English that captures well the meaning of the Greek word. Even after rummaging through the thesaurus, you come up with nothing. While we will name this eighth fruit with the traditional label of meekness, we need to further define the word. Think of meekness like a canning jar full of meanings and connotations.

The world’s scorn for meekness is helpful in appreciating what this spiritual fruit is.

We must empty the canning jar of meekness by pouring out its English contents, and then we will refill it with biblical meaning, spiritual associations. There is a plus to sticking with the word meekness, because it isn’t a popular characteristic in our world. In our day meekness is weakness; it is to be spineless, insipid, unassertive, milquetoast.

The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche denounced Christians for this very virtue. He said that the only reason Christians prize meekness is due to them being weak and cowardly. Only the wimpy prize a weak virtue. The world’s scorn for meekness is helpful in appreciating what this spiritual fruit is.

The word meekness is helpful in that it is associated with a prominent Biblical character, Moses. Moses was very meek, more than anyone else on earth (Num. 12:3). In the flesh, Moses was a walking demonstration of meekness. Such a living definition of meekness gives us a solid anchor to tether our understanding.

You can’t make meekness without humility.

Before getting to Moses, we have some filling to do. We have our empty jar of meekness, and the first ingredient is one-fifth of a cup of humility. You can’t make meekness without humility—our bending the knee before our God as sinners—though the variety of humility that belongs to meekness isn’t so much decrying our worthlessness.

As sinners we are pathetic insects. This is true, but meekness has the humility of being more interested in others than self. As Paul states in Philippians 2:3, in humility we count others more significant that ourselves instead of acting in selfish ambition or conceit. Meekness prefers to listen to how someone’s day was, rather than talk about itself.

Meekness is the internal submission and happy desire to obey.

Meekness removes the “I” from the center of your heart and putting God and others in the center. Meekness prioritizes concern for others over concern for self. And this leads to our next ingredient. Into the jar go two tablespoons of obedience. Meekness is the internal submission and happy desire to obey.

Meekness seeks to obey God and to obey other authorities for the Lord’s sake. This is obeying without being preoccupied with yourself, without gainsaying or griping. Thus, the word for meekness could be used for domesticated animals—tame and docile. Meekness is not the wild ox but rather the one trained to the yoke, which is not weak.

A yoked ox has its power controlled and harnessed for good work, but an untrained ox tears the fence down and kicks you in the head. Our meekness happily serves our Lord, having been trained by his love. And along these lines, the next ingredient into the jar are two more tablespoons of teachability.

We show the meekness of wisdom by learning and doing good works.

Meekness includes that reverent and openness to be instructed, discipled, and trained. James tells us to “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). Proverbs states because of meekness there is fear of the Lord in us (Prov. 22:4), and in Psalm 25:9 we read that the Lord leads the meek in what is right and teaches the meek his way. The wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, and meek (James 3:17), and we show the meekness of wisdom by learning and doing good works.

Yes, heavenly wisdom is meek, as it is willing and eager to learn and strives to obey in the fear of the Lord. Meekness makes correction a stimulant, not a depressant. Thus, the first three ingredients of meekness are humility, obedience, and teachability, and these three are kind of like onions, carrots, and celery—they form the base for several virtues.

Meekness focuses on not sinning in our anger.

It is time for the more unique elements. Next into the jar goes a large dose of controlling our anger. Yes, meekness especially relates to anger—our tempers, but it is a little different than patience.

Patience is being slow to anger, whereas meekness focuses on not sinning in your anger. It includes having just the right amount of anger and not being wild and out of control with your temper. The opposite of meekness is being ill-tempered: violent, harsh, and quarrelsome. We are not to speak evil of anyone, to avoid quarreling, and to show perfect meekness to all (Tit. 3:2).

In his letter to Titus, the apostle Paul contrasts meekness with being self-willed, ill-tempered, and violent. Proverbs warns us not to be friends with a man of anger, nor associate with an ill-tempered person. An angry man stirs up strife and digs up much sin. Or for those married, there is the proverb: “It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman” (Prov. 21:19).

Elders are not to be violent, quarrelsome, or quick to anger but instead to be meek. The ill-tempered person gets overly upset over a small thing—a tantrum over spilled milk. He stays angry way too long; his anger becomes resentment, bitterness, and a grudge. The person devoid of meekness is irascible, snappy, and cantankerous.

Meekness, however, has a calm and gentle temper; its spirit is stable, tranquil, and not easily provoked. Meekness is free from bitterness and contentiousness. Meekness is not the absence of anger, but it is difficult to move it to anger. Meekness righteously and gently expresses the anger. And this brings us to the standout ingredient of meekness.

Meekness eschews power and doesn’t demand its rights.

The secret ingredient of meekness is eschewing power. Yes, power dynamics lie within the soul of meekness and its opposite. Ill-tempered people aren’t just wild with anger; they also demand their rights. They scramble for power to get their way, and they employ power, violence, and coercion for vengeance.

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