Of Meekness and Quietness of Spirit
1 Peter 3:1-7
Likewise, you wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word…


I. WHAT IS IMPLIED IN A MEEK AND QUIET SPIRIT.

1. A calm submission under the merely natural evils and calamities which we meet with in the world.

2. A moderation of our anger and resentment upon occasion of moral wrongs or injuries.

3. A sincere desire of the harmony and happiness of society, and a disposition to cultivate peace and friendship with all about us.

II. WHY WE SHOULD ACQUIRE AND CULTIVATE THIS TEMPER.

1. The intrinsic dignity and value of meek and quiet temper, which is of great price in the sight of God.

2. The importance of a meek and peaceable spirit in religion, and its necessity for our obtaining the mercy and forgiveness of God.

3. Another argument may be brought from the great examples of God's clemency and patience, and our Saviour's meek, gentle, and peaceable behaviour while He was in this world.

4. We should cultivate a meek and quiet spirit from a regard to the peace of mankind and the happiness of the particular persons with whom we have any intercourse.

5. We should cultivate a meek and peaceable spirit for our own interest and satisfaction. There is hardly anything that can be more prejudicial to a man than a wrathful and turbulent temper.

III. THE METHODS OF FORMING AND RAISING A SPIRIT OF MEEKNESS AND QUIETNESS IS US.

1. For attaining to that part of it, which consists in a patient submission to the purely natural evils which befall us in the world, the great rule is to impress our minds with a deep conviction of the wisdom, equity, and goodness of Providence, by the direction or permission of which all such evils come upon us.

2. As the most difficult part of meekness and quietness of spirit consists in the due government of our resentment with respect to the authors of moral injuries, we must take care to represent such persons in the most favourable light that we justly can to ourselves.

3. When we feel our angry passions beginning to move in us let us carefully guard against their rising to any criminal or unbecoming height in us.

4. Let us observe the direction which our Lord has given us, to express a meek and peaceable spirit when we exercise our devotion and offer up our prayers to Almighty God. From what has been said we may see that the notions which so commonly prevail in the world, concerning the honour, courage, and magnanimity of men are extremely ill-founded.

(J. Orr.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;

WEB: In the same way, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; so that, even if any don't obey the Word, they may be won by the behavior of their wives without a word;




Meekness
Top of Page
Top of Page