Meekness is too often confused with humility. Yet, someone can be meek, and still full of pride, which is the opposite of humility. If Meekness were equated with humility, pride could not exist in someone who is meek. But it can. Let me explain.
Positive: Meekness only identifies a person’s ability to receive feedback, …whether positive, OR NEGATIVE. Positive feedback is the easier of the two, but don’t be fooled into thinking that all positive is good. It’s easy to recognize fake positivity, and that’s not helpful. It creates a false idea, producing a weak foundation. Psychology has used positivity as a tool of manipulation for years. Rather than being founded in correct principles so that patients can learn to govern themselves to success, psychology teaches positive manipulation to get the results that look like success. Their idea is, “If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck!” Wolves in sheep’s clothing identifies the deception of seeking out results that look like success, rather than acquiring correct principles. Positivity is not always positive.
Negative: The more difficult skill set is the ability to receive NEGATIVE feedback. Meekness produces, in an individual, the ability to receive information, without offense, without defense, without road blocks of insecurity, without filters of false beliefs, and without assumptions. Negative feedback is never comfortable, but absolutely beneficial to the uncovering of your unbelief, to reveal the truth.
Humility/Pride: When a person has acquired the skill set of receiving both positive and negative feedback, they have developed meekness. But just because you are meek, it only means you can receive information. It doesn’t mean that you know how to process and use that information.
Humility is the beginning of processing the information, to be coached at shedding unbelief, to replace it with further truth and light, further light and knowledge. Without meekness, even the most teachable pupil could never arise to his full potential, because he doesn’t have the whole picture; he isn’t working with a full deck of cards; he’s missing a man on the court; he’s playing the game without all the pieces. No matter how humble he is, only all the truth (good and bad) can tap into his full potential. Anything else can only produce shortages.
In business, meekness is absolutely a necessity. It is referred to as “information systems.” True information is invaluable in business. In accounting they use the metaphor, “Garbage in, garbage out.” If the financial numbers are inaccurate coming in, your reports are going to be inaccurate, therefore the company is making decisions based on inaccurate information. And that’s a disaster waiting to happen. In the business world it’s called “information systems.” In the gospel it’s called meekness.
Although information systems (meekness) exists in business, that doesn’t mean pride cannot be present as well. The Nazi’s were meek, and sought out all information, both good and bad. But they weren’t short of pride either. Drug cartels rely on meekness to know the truth of what’s going on in their territory. Failure to do so means death to them, often times literally. But they too are not humble. While meekness is a valuable attribute to develop, to gather information, it doesn’t dictate what you use the information for. Pride can exist in a meekness atmosphere.
Conclusion: Meekness is the ability to receive feedback, whether good or bad. Meekness is not the same as humility. Humility is the processing of that information, to filter out the bad information, and accumulate the good information, whether it is good or bad feedback. The presence of meekness doesn’t mean the absence of pride. Both can co-exist.
Although meekness can co-exist with pride, it is an important attribute to develop because only through it can we put ourselves into question, and move forward into humility. Only in the condition of putting ourselves into question can the scriptures rest upon us, sink deep into our hearts, and become our core. When the scriptures have had sufficient time to rest upon you, to become your core, only then are you humble. The words of Christ have one role, to soften the hearts. Failure to sink the words of Christ to the very core, leaves a person with a hard heart, and meekness is necessary to give the words of Chrsit sufficient time to sink in. Without meekness, we will cast aside the scriptures and consider them a thing of naught. It will never lay hold upon you. Obtain the trait of being able to receive information from any source, despite it’s positive or negative feel. Be Meek!
Word Compass 
I thought this one was confusing. I don’t think I got the relationship with meekness and humility the way you are trying to describe. How did you get that humility is the ability to process the information…? ok das all.
Good question. As I re-read the post, I realized it wasn’t clear. Let me try to clarify, but don’t be surprised when you are left even more confused.
When you read something, you can read words, but still have your mind somewhere else at the same time. But when you read to understand what the words are saying, you are required to focus and interpret what was the author is trying to say. It is the ponderous scripture study that penetrates, and finds place to wrestle within your heart. After reading and understanding the words, you can either agree, disagree, or formulate your own opinion, or disregard what you read altogether. But, having done so is an act of faith.
It is meekness that gets you to read the scriptures, to exercise a portion of belief, to consider if it is a good seed or not. But it is humility to let the scriptures direct your actions. They work together, but are not the same.
You can obtain a portion of humility, but not read the entire Book of Mormon. Hearing quotes in church, or having someone pull out some good passages or stories from the scriptures does not qualify as knowing the entirety of the document. It is only a portion.
You can also be meek and read the entire thing, but reject the truth because of pride. The church in general has done this for years. Rather than conforming to it, they have taken out an entire document, and continue to change interpretations of other portions, to match their unbelief.
Meek is only our informations systems. Seek the best sources for your information of the heavens, the scriptures. Then identify the you degree of your humility by letting it rest upon your mind to tell you what to do, and who to be. Only the meek will make room to consider the things of heaven.