The second reason a spirit of meekness is so important is that good spiritual leaders don’t always make it sound like they are forcing themselves on others.
This doesn’t mean they should sound weak. Remember, meekness is not weakness. It just means they are trying to disciple someone in the way of Christ. And, Jesus had all the power in the world – He just chose not to use it. He used Godly wisdom to solve many problems, and usually, at the most just one statement was enough; those words “fitly spoken,” as quoted from Proverbs earlier.
There are times for forcefulness, of course. Jesus was very forceful about the money changers in the Temple, for instance. Being God, He couldn’t stand how a house of worship was being used for selfish reasons. And, we people have times when we need to be forceful, as well - the military, police or fire officers, or even in emergencies where you know more how to handle it.
However, for the most part, you need to build a trusting relationship with a person before you can guide them. And, that can take some time.
We don’t know whether the Shunammite woman’s husband ever started to follow God closely, for instance. But, we know that his wife showed a spirit of meekness in guiding him. That was vital to his having a chance to see God’s love for him, and why he should follow God. That spirit of meekness is much more vital when there is no – or very little – family relationship.
