If we want to be great in God’s sight, there is no easy way; there must be a process of formation. To enter that process, a person must have meekness. The negative elements in ourselves and character must be chiseled away, and that chiseling is painful, even very painful. Without meekness, we can’t be shaped by God. God’s Word in Matthew 18:3, says that if we do not repent and become like little children, we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, we must have a pliable heart to be formed by God. This is the meekness God desires.
The purpose of learning truth is not merely to fill the mind with theological understanding, but truly to be doers of the Word. Nothing is more joyful than pleasing God through deeds that align with the Word we have studied. We must always feel that we have not yet become what God desires us to be. God’s rebuke, God’s Word, and God’s Discipline require a person to be willing to keep changing. Do not think that grace is “all in ” and automatically” guarantees entrance to heaven. Such thinking is very misleading and disturbs those who genuinely want to grow toward perfection.
Grace does not automatically make a person perfect. One must repent like a child through a process of renewing the mind. This does not happen in a single moment but through a long, ongoing process. Renewal of the mind will not occur if we do not give sincere attention to it. Blessed are those of us who continually fill our minds with God’s Word according to our spiritual maturity level. In Greek, Matthew 18:3 uses the Word paidion, meaning about 7–14 years old, an age considered effective for training. No matter how high our achievements in academics or business, we must still have the pliancy of a child of that age. God can color our souls if we yield ourselves to be colored.
Jeremiah 18:1–6 explains that God is like a potter who shapes us. In every event we see, hear, and experience, we should ask: which part of me does God want to form? A meek person is God’s for God’s all times, through every life event. This longing is not to manipulate God, but to enjoy God. One cannot enjoy God without the willingness to accept every occurrence as something God allows for good. If we keep grumbling about events we go through, we will never thirst for and long for God.
We must realize that God’s hate is evident in events that leave very deep scars in our souls. To produce intense change, God may allow deep wounds through various events. At certain ages, for the sake of accelerated growth, God may bring formation through experiences that are very stinging and disturbing to the soul. Those wounds produce significant change. Even the righteous, like Job, underwent great formation. As Job 23: “0 says, “He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come out as gold.” To” reach a “high degree of purity, Job had to pass through very deep wounds.