In his book “Whom the Lord Loveth,” Neal A. Maxwell wrote:
If we peeled away from our many verbal communications the ego driven portion (things said thoughtlessly, or for effect, or to achieve advantage), how much substance would then remain?
Meekness serves us well in this respect and in so many others. When, for instance, we are overlooked or bypassed, we can easily feel slighted. Meekness emancipates us from such a reaction, because it neither regards others as rivals nor as objects of envy. Nor does meekness spend valuable time decoding incoming communications in anxious search of praise, criticism, or hidden meanings. Meekness also avoids that added fatigue brought on by breathless pursuit of preeminence.
Meekness thus provides a peaceful sanctuary from all such storms. There is a further bonus: more time is made available by not always having to keep score, whether in an unsettled marriage in need of improved communication or in a competitive professional relationship.
Whether at the office roundtable or in our neighborhoods, it isn’t that the meek always automatically have better information. Rather, they draw strength from a much more fundamental assurance: they know that God loves them (*17). They also know that the Lord is just and “no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). so they seek to please Him rather than playing for approval from the various niche galleries.
The meek are simply more free, more peaceful, and more cheerful.
~Neal A. Maxwell, Whom the Lord Loveth, The Journey of Discipleship (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2003), 93-94
(Posts with a preamble asterisk * are for a more general audience, and not specific to teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
