Elisabeth Elliot: Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is teachability. How do you come at life? Is it with an empty cup, saying, "Lord, here is my cup, fill it up, teach me, show me"?

Lisa Barry: Wouldn't the world be a different place if everyone had an attitude of teachability? We'd have politicians who would want to learn new and honest ways of governing. Ex-convicts would always become productive members of society. We would have drivers who graciously move over to let merging traffic in. So many changes from just one little attitude shift, yet so few seem willing to make the change.

Today on Gateway To Joy, Elisabeth Elliot talks again about the characteristic of meekness and how powerful it really is. Using contemporary examples and examples from the Bible, she'll paint a portrait of what meekness is. If you're facing a difficult situation today, you just might find your answer during these next 15 minutes we refer to as Gateway To Joy. And now, here's Elisabeth to get us started.

Elisabeth Elliot: "You are loved with an everlasting love." That's what the Bible says. "And underneath are the everlasting arms." This is your friend Elisabeth Elliot, continuing my talk today about "Meekness is not Weakness."

Did you think it was? Well, I did for a while. "Anybody that's meek is somebody who has no mind of her own, no backbone, just sort of a dishrag kind of a person." But Jesus Christ was meeker than any man. Moses was the meekest man in the world. Jesus of course was meeker even than Moses.

He gives us an invitation. I repeated it three times this week. I'll give it to you again. In Matthew 11 He says, "Come to Me, you who are tired and overburdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart" or "I am meek and humble in heart."

Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is teachability. How do you come at life? Is it with an empty cup, saying, "Lord, here is my cup, fill it up, teach me, show me"?

He has given us many examples in Scripture of what meekness is all about. Meekness is soft. That doesn't necessarily mean it's weak. Let me read to you from 1 Corinthians 13, the great chapter on love.

The Apostle Paul wrote, "Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered." How are we doing so far on our score here? "Love keeps no record of wrongs." Ever sulked? Have you ever been keeping a record of wrongs, which made you sulk?

"Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." That's a description of what love is--the kind of soft loving that meekness is all about. It always protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres and never quits.

Love of course can be wounded by the sharp arrows of hatred. But if we are truly meek, we will not be embittered or sick with pettish resentment.

Two days ago I was on the telephone with a woman whose husband has been committing adultery and treating her in an absolutely abominable way. Once more he had come home and behaved in a terribly unchristian way. But as he was leaving, she heaped coals of fire on his head. Do you know that expression from the Book of Proverbs? If you heap coals of fire on your enemy's head, you are proving to him that you are not angry and that you are not crossing him off your list.

This dear woman presented her husband, who had been so unfaithful and was once again going off with the girlfriend, she presented him with a little album with pictures of the children that he would like to have, since he was leaving her. Now that I would certainly say is a demonstration of meekness. She was not embittered or sick with pettish resentment, although she had been very, very deeply wounded by the sharp arrows of his hatred and his lying.

Meekness is never poisoned or narrowed by insults. Stephen was a man of intrepid strength. He never struck any heroes' postures, but he offered his heart to the implacable hatred of the multitude. The only reason that he was able to do that was because of his victorious love. Meekness is love at school.

Jesus is another example of meekness when, at the Last Supper, He told Judas, "What thou doest, do quickly." He knew of course what Judas was going to do. Judas went out and it was night. Later on when Jesus was in the Garden, Judas identified Him with a kiss before the soldiers that had come along to capture Him. Jesus permitted him to kiss Him. He said, "Do what you came for." That's meekness.

My husband Lars told me that his grandfather in Norway literally turned the other cheek when a man punched him on one cheek, fulfilling precisely what the Bible says. "If someone punches you on one side, turn to him the other." Lars' grandfather was an example of meekness.

Jesus let Judas kiss Him. He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," speaking of those who had nailed Him to a cross. He turned His wounded, yet loving, glance on Peter. Peter, who had denied Him, received that wounded, loving, meek glance from His Savior.

Meekness is a force infinitely more irresistible than any on earth. When Jesus came riding on a donkey, that was a symbol of His meekness. A king rides on a horse. A servant rides on a donkey.

I love what Corrie Ten Boom said: "The donkey never imagined that the palms and the hosannas were for him. He was only the donkey. He was bearing Jesus on his back." Corrie used to say, "I'm only the donkey." So when she received standing ovations, which I'm sure must have happened hundreds of times in her life, she offered up all of that to Jesus, realizing that it was not hers to keep.

Now how do we attain meekness? Number one, by constantly looking at Christ. Number two, by bringing my injuries into the light of Christ. Number three, living in that light. Number four, melting in His sunshine of love. Number five, never assume a position of sovereignty.

I'll read those again. Would you like to learn the kind of meekness that the Bible teaches? Constantly look at Christ, bring your injuries into the light of Christ, live in that light, melt in the sunshine of His love, and do not assume a position of sovereignty.

Meekness will be actualized in our relationships with others. In 1 Peter we read that a woman is to have a gentle and quiet spirit, which is a thing very precious in the sight of God. Meekness is the actualization of that inner harmony of our relationship with Christ--an overflowing charity. Meekness is irresistible.

I talked with a secretary who had quit her job. She said, "Well, one month of that was enough." I couldn't help wondering if perhaps that secretary might have had in her very hands the material to change the whole atmosphere of that office, if she had graciously and quietly complied with whatever the boss was asking. Of course, I don't know both sides of the story, so I have no idea. She was very bitter about the way that she had been treated, and so she quit.

There may be some situations that some of you are facing, which are tempting you to quit, but meekness would urge you, quietly and with a Christlike spirit, to receive this thing which troubles you.

Meekness encounters all enmity with the offer of an unshielded heart. I love that. Not original with me. Meekness encounters all enmity with the offer of an unshielded heart, which is ready to bleed to death for the sinner's sake.

Will you come to Jesus, to Him who is meek and humble of heart? He asks you, "Will you come? I will give you rest." And Jesus is in a position to give us rest as nobody else in the whole world can do. I might provide a place of rest for you in our guestroom, for example. But I could not give you rest. I could only provide the conditions for rest.

The truly meek soul will come, quietly and humbly, to Jesus Christ. Remember--it's not weakness. So if you see in yourself lack of this virtue, which is so biblical and so necessary, will you ask the Lord to teach you? Are you teachable enough to take the lessons that He gives? I hope so. I pray that that's the case.

Lisa Barry: As you think about your answer to that, I want to tell you about a book that will take you deeper into the subject. It's called LOVE HAS A PRICE TAG. It reveals that anything in life worth having requires sacrifice. If meekness is a character trait that you'd like to cultivate, then this book will help you do it. It's written by Elisabeth Elliot and the cost is $13. You can send that, along with your request, to Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68501.

We'd also be happy to send you information on how you can have a more integral part of the inner workings of this program. It might be financial, prayer support or something else. To find out more, ask for information on Gatekeepers when you write. That address again is Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68501. Or call toll-free: 1-800-759-4JOY. That's 1-800-759-4569. Our Internet ministry address is gatewaytojoy.org. Gateway To Joy has been a production of Back to the Bible.

Tomorrow Elisabeth wraps up this series on meekness with a few important reminders. I hope you'll be there when we meet for the Friday edition of Gateway To Joy.