In the past, I’ve struggled to see what benefit would result from following this advice in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:38, 39). I understood that what Jesus was describing here was the quality of meekness. 

One definition of meekness is “deficient in spirit or courage” (merriam-webster.com) and some dictionaries include weakness and submissiveness as synonyms. Some include similar definitions and synonyms for wimpiness.

I definitely did not want to be a wimp. I decided to investigate what the Bible and Christian Science reveal about meekness.