Embracing the Beatitudes: A Journey Through Spiritual Growth
- Team LEAD
- Jun 23
- 6 min read
Week 3, Day 1
Taking Shape
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Matthew 5:5
When was the last time you played with Play-Doh? Did you keep the colors separate? Did you make your favorite animal? Did you form your favorite actor? Maybe you made shapes, letters, or an entire scene. Think about what the Play-Doh looked like before you played with it. It probably looked just like the container it was in: a short, colorful cylinder. But the more you worked with it, the more it took on the shape you desired.
The same thing happens in our lives as we follow Jesus. We start off looking like the world around us. Sometimes we are unkind to others, maybe because we’ve been treated unkindly, maybe because they are different from us, or maybe for no reason at all. Sometimes we are selfish, making those around us feel bad if they don’t let us have our way and do what we want. Sometimes we are rude, ignoring, overlooking, or dismissing the people around us.
But as we follow Jesus, we look increasingly less like the world around us and more like the One we are following. Through our reading and memorization of the Bible, our prayers for others and ourselves, our fasting, our fellowship with other Christians, and our service of those in need, we become like Play-Doh in the hands of Jesus. He shapes and molds our lives. In his hands, we learn to live in his way, a way that is meek and lowly of heart. Jesus, step by step, takes away our unkindness, selfishness, and rudeness. Yet instead of ceasing to be strong, he makes us stronger than ever by teaching us to use our strength to glorify God the Father.
Father, I want to look like Jesus, not like the world. Shape me.
Week 3, Day 2
Right Place, Right Way
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Matthew 5:5
When we choose to follow Jesus, we are saying two things. First, we are saying Jesus will get us to the right place. The right place is in heaven with God. By grace through faith, Jesus will get us to the right place because he himself is the Way. As we follow Jesus, we are also saying he will get us to the right place in the right way. Jesus knows all the temptations this life has to offer, yet he is the only person who ever overcame them all. When we follow him — by reading the Bible, praying, fasting, fellowshipping with other Christians, and serving others — we are able to be convicted when we sin, corrected when we are going toward sin, and coached in the ways to keep from sinning.
Think about the night Jesus was betrayed. As his prayer time came to an end, he told his disciples that his betrayer — Judas Iscariot — was at hand. Judas was accompanied by an overwhelmingly large crowd made up of soldiers, police, priests, elders, and scribes. As Judas saw Jesus, the disciples saw the crowd. They asked Jesus, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” They wanted permission to show their strength, to fight their enemies. But Peter didn’t wait for permission, cutting off the right ear of Malchus, the servant of the high priest. Peter’s actions were not the right way to follow Jesus. Peter’s strength was not the problem. It was his failure to use that strength in a God-honoring way that was sinful. Jesus did not need their swords. He could have saved himself. But the Father’s will that he should die for sinners was more important.
Father, help me to know what is more important according to Your will. Give me the grace to keep my strength on a leash so that it is only used to build up what is holy and tear down what is not.
Week 3, Day 3
Watch Your Words
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Matthew 5:5
If meekness is strength under control, one of the first strengths we need to control as followers of Jesus is that of the tongue. We learn on the playground that “sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will never hurt us.” Yet even the kindergartener repeating the saying knows by experience how wrong it is. Words have power. The proverb says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” That means words can help or they can hurt.
Too often followers of Jesus fail to understand the amount of pain our words can cause, both in the lives of others and to the witness of Christ in the world. We demonstrate such ignorance when we do not exercise restraint, but use our words both to “bless our Lord and Father and…curse people made in the likeness of God.” Of such lack of self-control, James, the brother of Jesus, wrote, “My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”
The follower of Jesus controls the power of the tongue. He obeys the command of the apostle Paul, who wrote, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up, as it fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Often our witness for Christ is heard most clearly in what we do not say when our circumstances prompt us to be cruel, unkind, gossipy, or profane. It’s this simple: If you say you are a follower of Jesus, but you do not control what you say, you’re either not following Jesus that closely or you’re not following Jesus at all.
Father, I’ve shouted things in public I should have never whispered in private. Forgive me. Give me grace to tame my tongue.
Week 3, Day 4
It’s Not About You
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Matthew 5:5
As we learn to follow Jesus, it’s important to learn the difference between weakness and meekness. Weakness is the absence of strength. Meekness is the control of strength. Jesus does not call us to be spiritually weak, but spiritually meek. Just as an athlete does performance training for success in competition, so the disciple disciplines himself for godliness. He grows in grace, increases his knowledge of Scripture, submits to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, serves his fellow man all in order to be a stronger Christian. The disciple of Jesus then controls that strength so that it is used only to glorify the name of Jesus.
Moses exemplified that kind of spiritual strength under control. Through his service of God, Moses learned many lessons of leadership, some through challenges the Israelites faced, many through complaints the Israelites made. As Moses grew stronger as a leader, he also learned to restrain his strength.
One day that restraint was put to the test. Moses’s siblings, Aaron and Miriam, spoke against him, challenging his authority as God’s spokesman and ability to lead God’s people. At that point, he might have been expected to condemn his siblings, but the Bible says, “the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.” Moses held his tongue because he had learned such sins were not really against him, but against God. As it turned out, he did not need to defend himself, but because God had his back.
Father, help me to get stronger in my walk with Christ and use my strength for the glory of Christ. When I am wronged, give me grace to give you glory!
Week 3, Day 5
Relationships, Rules, and Rewards
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Matthew 5:5
One of the great themes of the Bible is God’s desire for you to have a relationship with him by faith. Every person who turns away from his sin and trusts God for salvation has a relationship with God. In that relationship, he learns the rules of how to live in a way that pleases God and the rewards of living by faith. The relationship always comes before the rules and the rewards.
Think about Abraham. Abraham was an idolater, which means he worshiped something or someone other than the true God. God called Abraham to turn away from his sin and trust God. As Abraham followed God by faith, he learned the rules and received the rewards of living by faith. His descendants—the people of Israel—called these rewards their inheritance. God gave them a big family, a beautiful homeland, and a big responsibility, namely to show all the nations who the true God is.
Two thousand years after Abraham lived, Jesus Christ, God’s Son, came into the world with the express purpose of making a permanent way for people to have a relationship with God by faith. He did so by dying on the cross and rising from the grave. Those who trust in Christ and follow his leading have a relationship with God. As they follow Christ, they learn how to live in a way that pleases God, such as being humble or meek, and the benefit of living by faith. Just as Abraham was promised a beautiful country, the promise that meek shall inherit the earth is God’s assurance that those who trust in him will live with him forever in the eternal home he has prepared for those who love him.
Father, thank you for wanting a relationship with me and making a way for me to live with you forever.
