Session 1 | Pastor Jennifer Neuschwander | Every Woman 2025

Living as His Favorite: The Heart of Holiness

We are all God’s favorites because His love is unconditional. But there is another level of “favor” that comes when we choose Him—when we make Him our favorite.

 

• God’s love is unconditional — we are all His favorites.

• But deeper favor comes when we choose Him — when He becomes our favorite.

• True favor is tied to — how we live and conduct ourselves.

 

1 Peter 1:15–17 NLT: But now you must be holy in everything you do (conduct), just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do (conduct). So, you must live in reverent fear of Him during your time as “foreigners in the land.”

 

1 Peter 1:15–17 ESV: But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on Him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.

 

What are a few things that these verses are saying to us?

1. Holiness is not a belief —it’s a before God in a foreign land.

 

We look to Jesus Christ as our first and best example. Can what was said of Him be said of us?

2.   We must first from self-righteousness and pride…

3.   And walk in and .

 

The holiness we seek—living as His favorite—goes much deeper than avoiding sin or managing surface issues. We are not seeking a remedy for the effects of sin BUT for the cause of our human condition. What does this journey look like?

 

THREE CORE Truths:

1. True holiness (or divine favor) doesn’t come from following rules; it comes from following Christ – it’s about with Christ.

2. The path toward holiness is a path of both life and death, pain and blessings.

3. Along this path, we will experience SEVEN things. We will be:

• • Challenged
  • Empowered
  • Provoked
  • Refined
  • Crucified
  • BUT, never disappointed

If it is God we seek, it is God we will find.

 

The holiest and most powerful voice ever to walk this earth described Himself as “meek and lowly in heart.”

 

Holiness is the product of grace — and God gives grace only to the humble. To know God, we must understand these 3 things about Him:

1. “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

2. Humility draws grace to our , and grace alone transforms the heart. In other words: Humility draws grace that transforms the heart!

3. Humility is the of transformation and the essence of all virtue.

 

 

Matthew 11:29 AMP: Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quietness) for your souls.

 

4 Key Truths from This Passage

1. The : “Take My yoke upon you…” — The yoke represents submission and discipleship. It’s not optional; we all wear one. Jesus contrasts His “light yoke” of truth with the Pharisees’ “heavy yoke” of legalism.

• • What yoke are we wearing? And to whom are we yoked too?

• • The word yoke comes from the root meaning “” Jesus is saying, “Be joined to Me.”

• • This is the yoke of discipleship, discipline, and spiritual servitude—a bond that brings refreshment and rest, not burden.

2.   To : “…and learn of me” – “to learn by experience or practice.”

3. The : “I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) of heart…” – Christ’s heart is gentle and humble—never proud or harsh.

• • He stoops low to draw us close, inviting us to take on a new Master and a new way of life.

• • Where pride and anger rule, there is unrest. But where the meekness and humility of Christ dwell, there is peace, quietness, and assurance forever—for “the work of righteousness is peace” (Isaiah 32:17).

• • When Jesus said, “I am meek and lowly,” He spoke prophetically—not only of Himself, but of His Church. We, the Body of Christ, are called to the same heart.

• • Meekness must become our way of life. Like Jesus, we must delight in being “lowly in heart.” As His disciples, we are humble by choice.

4. The : “…and you will find rest for your souls.”

Jesus says, “I Myself will give you rest; I will restore you; I will make you recover.” As Christ found rest in complete surrender to the Father’s will, He invites us to the same peace.

• • The Greek word for “soul” is psuchē — this is not the spirit, but the self: our personality, emotions, appetites, and desires.

When we surrender this self (our souls) to Christ, He restores and sustains us.

Psalm 55:22 NIV: “Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.”

• • Trust your soul and concerns to Him, and He will carry both you and your load. That’s a yoke worth every sacrifice!

 

1. Holiness begin with rules!

It begins with forsaking pride and facing the truth about our hearts. Out of honest self-discovery comes humility. In this meekness, true holiness grows.

2. The humility we seek must run deeper than momentary repentance, it must become our .

Even in spiritual fullness, we must delight in weakness, remembering that all strength is the fruit of God’s grace.

3.   Our humility cannot be a cycle of pride interrupted by brief self-abasement — it must become a .

 

Matthew 5:3–5 ESV: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek (humble, gentle), for they shall inherit the whole earth.

1. Verse 3 — “Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit”

• • To be poor in spirit means to empty ourselves of and !

This requires a laying down of every opinion, habit, and prejudice that stands between us and God.

• • It is the starting point of true holiness — the surrender that makes space for grace.

• • Poverty of spirit comes before repentance, remorse, humility, and meekness.

It is the soil from which these other things grow. But without proper soil, repentance, remorse, humility, and meekness cannot grow.

• • Being poor in spirit is not the same as being contrite or humble, though they are related.

• • • Poor in spirit means: to recognize our for God.

• • • Contrite means: to feel for sin.

• • • Humble means: to before God and others.

2. Verse 4 — “Blessed Are Those Who Mourn”

• • To mourn is to feel for our rebellion against God’s will.

• • This is more than emotional grief — it is a continual sensitivity to sin and a heart that stays before Him.

• • The Greek word for mourn here describes a grief so deep it cannot be hidden — sorrow that produces tears and brokenness, but also draws us to God.

2 Corinthians 7:10: “Godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to salvation without regret.”

• • This is not confined to the moment of salvation; it becomes an of humility that keeps us dependent on grace.

3. Verse 5 — “Blessed Are the Meek, for They Shall Inherit the Earth”

Meekness follows poverty of spirit and mourning.

We cannot become truly meek until we first recognize our own needs and grieve our sin. Meekness follows a rather beautiful progression:

1. Poverty of spirit shows us our sinfulness.

2. Mourning softens our hearts toward God.

3. Meekness is our response to His holiness.

4. Brokenness of spirit focuses on our sin — it is negative in nature.

5. Meekness focuses on God’s holiness — it is positive and transformative.

 

In our aggressive, self-centered culture, meekness often feels misplaced. Many equate it with weakness, being a pushover, passivity, etc. — but Biblically, it is anything but that!!!

In the New Testament, meekness is a fruit of the Spirit and a and attribute of God’s own nature and character.

Matthew 5:5: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

The meek are those who will share in Christ’s inheritance and reign with Him. While the world says, “Blessed are the strong who can hold their own,” Jesus declares the opposite: Blessed are the submitted, for they will overcome.

 

1.   Meekness is not weakness. It is —power under control.

It is the posture of one who quietly and gently yields to God’s will, trusting Him to defend rather than striving to prove or promote oneself.

 

2.   In the Old Testament, the Hebrew conveys being “,” “lowly,” or “afflicted”—one who bears burdens rather than retaliates. 

Psalm 37:11 NASB: But the humble (meek) will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

Psalm 10:17 NASB: O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble (meek); You will strengthen their heart; You will incline Your ear.

• • The Greek root of “meek” (praus) means “mild,” “gentle,” or “soft,” used to describe a soothing medicine or a gentle breeze—something powerful, yet restrained.

Galatians 5:22–23 NKJV: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Galatians 5:22–23 KJV: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.”

• • Meekness is God’s strength expressed through surrendered hearts. It is nothing weak or passive! It is HIS strength expressed through tender grace.

 

Humility and meekness are twin virtues:

• • Humility is having a right view of .

• • Meekness is having a right view of our .

The meek person, aware of his weakness, chooses to submit in obedience rather than resist God.  Pride—the opposite of meekness—relies on self rather than God. But the meek rely wholly on Him.

 

1. Meekness begins — in our response to God.

• • It is the inward posture that accepts His dealings with us as good and submits without dispute or resistance.

In Scripture, the meek are those who rely on God’s strength rather than their own to face injustice or difficulty.

Colossians 3:12–13 NKJV: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another.

• • Meekness is not weakness; it is a heart fully surrendered to God’s will — willing to be led, corrected, and even broken if necessary.

 

2. Meekness is also and “other’s focused”

• • Meekness is not “me focused.”

• • It is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest.

Meekness stems from a deep trust in God’s goodness and control, and therefore chooses to trust God with the relationships surrounding us.

• It means trusting that God can use even our offenders to purify us and that He alone will deliver us in His time.

The meek person doesn’t need to fight for their rights or defend their reputation — they have already placed both in God’s hands.

“The virtue admired by the world is domination and self-assertion. The virtue admired by God is the willingness to suffer wrong and commit ourselves to Him.”

 

3. True meekness is power under control.

Aristotle described meekness as the balance between extremes: “getting angry without reason and never getting angry at all.”

Meekness is righteous anger — controlled, measured, and rightly directed.

Ephesians 4:26 NKJV: Be angry and do not sin.

Proverbs 25:28 NKJV: Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.

Proverbs 16:32 TEV: It is better to be patient than powerful; better to rule yourself than to conquer a city.

Meekness teaches us THREE things:

• • to govern our emotions

• • to be calm when provoked

• • patient when others are angry

Like medicine in the right dose or a breeze that cools instead of destroys, meekness directs strength without losing control.

 

4.   A meek spirit is by the position of rage.

The meek person doesn’t seek revenge because they know they deserve nothing — and trust God to bring justice. They can endure insult and injury without resentment, staying steady when others become heated.

Romans 12:19 Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.

Meekness quiets the restless need to defend ourselves; in its place, we find rest instead of retaliation, peace instead of pride.

“meekness triumphs where vengeance fails”

 

5. Meekness fills you with incorruptible – it reveals the inner beauty that heaven values and time cannot touch.

1 Peter 3:4 KJV: “Let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”

The meek and quiet spirit is incorruptible beauty—not a performance, but a permanent grace of the heart. It is steady, peaceful, and balanced. Loudness and impulsiveness are foreign to meekness; quiet strength is its true definition.

Psalm 37:11 NKJV: “But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”

Inheriting the earth means: To receive God’s covenant blessings – living in His favor now and sharing in His eternal salvation to come

 

The supreme example of meekness is Jesus Christ, who endured horrific trials though He was the very Son of God’s love.

• In the Temple, His meekness was not silence or passivity—it was power under control. When He denounced the Pharisees and drove out the money changers, His authority flowed from purity, not pride.
• During the final week of His life, Jesus displayed the fullness of meekness in the face of humiliation and suffering.
• Jesus is the King of Meekness, the very embodiment of “strength clothed in humility.” He maintained peace and patience in the storm of accusation.

Meekness and Holiness—Two Sides of the Same Glory

When we look at Jesus, we see that meekness is not separate from holiness—it is the posture that makes holiness possible.

• Holiness is not a state of moral perfection; it is a heart wholly yielded to God.

• Meekness is the doorway through which we walk into that holiness.

Just as Jesus’ holiness was revealed through His meek submission to the Father, so our holiness is revealed through our meek submission to Christ. To live “holy in all our conduct” (1 Peter 1:15) means to let His meekness rule our reactions, our speech, and our spirit.

Holiness begins when we stop striving to prove our worth and start resting in His nature within us—the meek and lowly heart of Jesus.

When Jesus said, “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart,” He was also speaking prophetically of His Body—the Church. His meekness is to become our nature. When we know His voice and yield to it, His meekness becomes our response, and His holiness becomes our way of life.

 

It is not our meekness that changes us—it is His.

We do not strive to become holy favorites of God; we become holy because His Spirit writes meekness upon our hearts.

As we depart this session, let’s remember THREE things:

• Meekness is the mark of those who walk closely with God.
• Meekness is the power that makes holiness visible.
• Meekness is the language of those who live as His favorites.