This weekend I will be speaking in the main service at our church. Our Pastor has been in a series entitled “Treasures of a Transformed Life” and it has been an intensive study on the beatitudes found in Matthew 5:1-12. He has already covered the significance of the beatitudes, which are basically inner attitudes which lead to happiness or satisfaction in life. God asks His followers to live distinctly from the world and Jesus teaching proves that His ways are contrary to human nature. Jesus challenges his followers to be poor in spirit (humility before God), peacemakers, and ready to be persecuted for doing right. I cannot say that these things come naturally for me. The particular one I am teaching on is meekness, which is found in verse 5. Jesus simply states “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” Sounds clear, right? Wrong. I have had a real struggle while studying through this verse, especially since I am responsible to communicate it to the congregation. In my 21st century mind, I like definitions and so I was looking for a biblical definition for meekness. I could not find one. In fact, I would say that the Bible hardly ever defines terms, but rather chooses to illustrate concepts with real life stories which are detailed in a person’s interaction with God. I guess I always knew that God’s word was not a book of definitions or bullet points (like many of my messages), but a living, relevant book which demonstrates truth through the lives of people, history, and written letters to individuals or churches. When we approach the Bible we should not look for formulas or perfect outlines, but rather to get a grasp on God’s message to His people in order to conform our lives to His ways. Any thoughts?