A Heart of Humility
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the
Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James
4:10) KJV
My Uncle Warren pastored for many
years and used to jokingly say, “I received an award for my humility…but they
took it back because I kept showing it to everyone.” Humility is one of those allusive
characteristics that we battle throughout our lives. But part of the Christian’s quest is to live
with it.
A lot of people think humility is
something that God does to you. He doesn’t do it to you. You don’t ever need to pray, “God, please
humble me.” Humility is not something
God does to you. It’s not even something
your husband or your wife does to you. It’s something you do to yourself. Humility is a choice. It why James states the verse as he
does. James 4:10 says “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord,
and He shall lift you up.” “Humble yourself is a self-initiating act that
glorifies God. The greater that we make God, the more that it can become a
natural choice. At that point, God has
the ability to lift us up and we don’t have to.
Some
of us may remember an episode from the old Andy Griffith Television Show in
which the Women’s Historical Society discovered that a living descendant of a
Revolutionary War hero was living right there in Mayberry. The
news generated excitement and curiosity throughout the town as people made
plans for recognizing the hero’s relative. Barney Fife, of course, twisted his
own family tree to the point that he put himself in line for the honor. The rest of the townspeople felt special just
because someone among them was related to a hero. However, everyone was shocked when the
person was finally revealed. A careful analysis of the genealogical records
determined that the hero’s descendent was none other than, Otis Campbell, the
town drunk. Despite suggestions to find
a “substitute Otis” for the presentation, the real Otis showed up for the ceremony
true to form. When the ladies finally give him the plaque, Otis holds it in his
hands for a moment, and then decides instead to give the plaque to the town. He
tells them, “Just because you’re the descendent of a hero doesn’t make you one
too. So I would like to present this plaque to the town of Mayberry, to which I am just proud to
belong.”
You
may be a little like Otis. You may or may not have accomplished a
lot. Our humility should come from
the fact the fact that we belong to Christ and he includes us in his family.
There are two great
insults to God.
First is the person who
walks around saying, “Look how great I am.” A few years ago, the Miami Heat won the NBA
Championship and the MVP was a strong Christian named Dwayne Wade. Here he was at the center of the basketball
universe and he kept saying, “it wasn’t about me. God has blessed me with an ability to play and
he’s put me around great people.” While he could have easily pointed the finger
at himself, he wouldn’t do it. Actually when you really look under the surface,
pride is just another expression of fear, of insecurity. Pride is usually motivated by
insecurity. When you see someone who has
to boast all the time, has to brag all the time, can never admit when they’re
wrong, they are masking massive insecurities.
Secondly, God can’t
stand it when we say, “Look how worthless I am.” When you have been
declared in 1 Peter 2
as a chosen person and a royal priesthood, you can no longer see yourself as
anything less but God’s child and royalty.
It’s not about what you’ve done or haven’t done; it’s about WHO you
belong to. Humility is not low
self-esteem. It’s not running around
putting yourself down. “I’m no good.
I’m worthless. I’m junk. I’m just a worm.”
So the question comes. How do you humble yourself? Simply by BEING HONEST about your strengths and imperfections. Everyone knows you’re not perfect so
the quicker you recognize it, the better life becomes. Also, we can PRESENT BOTH AREAS TO CHRIST TO USE. At that point, He will lift you up.
Terry Risser
Reflections:
1)
What
is the best and worst of what you have to be transparent with God?
2)
How
does drawing closer to God bring humility?
Consider reading the Word today:
Copyright
2014- Terry Risser
No comments:
Post a Comment