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.