Romans 12:3 (NIV)
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
Philippians 2:3 (NIV)
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, with humility value others above yourselves…”
By humbling ourselves we will become humble, by giving thanks we will become thankful.
Humility is to me the act of resisting the temptation to look to the world or my own abilities for fulfillment of my needs. It requires an unwavering trust and patience with God.
All the time I’m looking to God for help, for an answer to a problem in my life. I tend to get impatient with God when that help or answer doesn’t come in my time frame, when I want it. It’s when I quit attempting to “fix” it myself, when I quit worrying, when I humbly give it all to Him and realize that I will never be able to do it alone and without Him I’m nothing, that it becomes very clear that He was in control of that situation the whole time. Even after witnessing this result time and time again, I’m not to a point where I can fully let go without hesitation.
If I want to do great things for the Lord I should become humble before Him. It’s when I realize that all I am is but a little servant of our Lord, that God will use me in a mighty way. It is not my schedule, my purpose, my plan that God wants to bless, it’s God’s schedule, God’s plan, God’s purpose for my life that He will bless to overflowing.
In a conversation yesterday with Natalie we discussed her expanding on the Word Warrior blog. She explained the reason why she started it, to share His word with her family and friends, to encourage others to study scripture and tell them what God was doing in her life. In my opinion she should be proud of her “little blog that could”, it’s grown with time and it has become such a blessing to the tons of people that read it, but she was quick to tell me, it would be nothing without His blessing. I can’t imagine how much work goes into her weekly posts, what an effort it is to prepare for. She is determined and hard working but not boastful, she gives God all the glory.
Humbling yourself is as simple as suppressing your pride when it starts to swell up
It's not the glorified job you do for all to see it's the job you do when no one’s around that gives Him the glory.
The opposite of humility and humbleness is arrogance and pride. These are the attitudes that say I’m better then you, sometimes to the extent of not respecting another person as if they were unworthy of your interaction. It magnifies our self-interests and our self-sufficiencies, which seem most important, but when we are self-sufficient, we will only fail. Your self will become your god.
Humility will minimize arrogance and will remove pride. It’s a worldly concept and our own weaknesses that cause us to think we are better than we are, and cause us to strive to lift ourselves above others, above God. Humility is admitting that others, and most importantly God, are the ones responsible for all our achievements. Being humble will allow us to be a teachable student with a submissive servant’s attitude.
Christ's life & death were a service & a sacrifice without thought of reputation
Proverbs 29:23 (NIV)
A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.
Lord, I pray that while I continue to seek you in every aspect of my life that I can learn to have humility, that by your grace I can come to you a humble servant seeking your blessing on my life. I will strive to give all the praise and all the glory to you, because I know that without you, I’m worthless. I will never be able to figure my life out; I’ll need you every step of the way.
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