But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4: 6, 10 ESV
There once was a Pastor from a Midwestern town who was concerned he did not have enough humility. One of his pastor friends told him that he should get a sandwich board, put turn or burn on it, and walk around town. One Saturday he walked the city. He got laughed at, but he didn’t mind if he could gain some humility. He came home that day feeling pretty good about himself. As he was taking off his sandwich board, a thought crossed his mind. Probably no other pastor in town would have done what I just did. Suddenly, he realized it took him all day to try to gain some humility. But it took just one thought to lose it.
Humility is rarely gained by human effort; if you seek it by your own strength, you’ll end up proud of your humility. If you think you have humility, you probably don’t. The first step in obtaining it is admitting that we don’t have it. Jeremiah 17:9. And the ESV says: ” The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it? The inclination of our hearts towards humility comes when we recognize that we often respond out of the pride of our hearts. Taking responsibility for our pride and repenting before God and, if necessary, before man is the crucial turning point. It takes being willing to use those three words that are the hardest words to say in the English language: I was wrong. The willingness to be open and honest about who we are, with our strengths and our weaknesses, is the key piece in the puzzle.
Some say that humility is the foundation stone on which all our graces are founded. If we thirst after God, He will lead us down that journey to humility. It is not a short journey. And we never arrive. The closer we come to God, the more we realize how far we must go to be like Him. If we honestly know who we are in relation to who Christ is, the reasonable response is always humility.
We always get in trouble when we think we know better than God.
The image is provided by Microsoft.
Ken Barnes, the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places” YWAM Publishing and Broken Vessels through Kindle Direct Publishing.
Ken’s Website— https://kenbarnes.us/
Ken blogs at https://kenbarnes.us/blog/
Email- [email protected]
