Humility

A dangerous topic for any blogger … Humility.  Being humble.  I’ve been told that bloggers are the most narcissistic people on the web.  Honestly, it slowed my blogging frequency until I realized this:  My blog is another expression of faith and trust in Him.  So, if you are one of those that thinks this is a narcissistic article, I hope you have already stopped reading by now!! (Hopefully, you didn’t start reading in the first place.)

I serve in a profession with many temptations.  Current news outlets are FULL of stories of ministers and denominational leaders who have experienced tremendous falls.  Some for mistakes made years ago.  Some for ongoing transgressions.  Some of these falls are most deserved.  Some of them are heartbreaking.

Now, I cannot sit in judgment over any man or woman in ministry.  Because I have made mistakes over the years, too.  The world might not grade my mistakes as harshly as some others, but God sees all of this differently.  All have sinned and fall short of His glory.  And, to Him, all sin is bad.  But one of the dangerous elements in many of the mistakes made by men and women (not only in ministry, but in life) is the element of PRIDE.  PRIDE is a MOST dangerous element in the life of any and every Christian.  We probably all struggle with PRIDE on a regular basis.  At least, I know I do.

Do you live to SERVE or to BE SERVED?

Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, shared this in Proverbs 16:18: Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.  One of the greatest temptations that has plagued humanity from the BEGINNING is PRIDE.  I do not believe Solomon was telling us not to believe in ourselves.  Having a positive self-image is necessary for our own mental survival!!  Solomon is reminding us not to WORSHIP ourselves.  I believe Solomon was being consistent with the biblical model of HUMILITY, of not allowing our self-image to become an item of worship!!

Today I believe he would write “KNOW WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST!!”

Both Peter and James wrote about this same idea:

James 4:10 – Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

1 Peter 5:6 – Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

If we HUMBLE OURSELVES before the Lord, we are showing the world that HE IS GOD and WE ARE HUMANITY!!  And that is OKAY!!  It is the most realistic ORDER OF EXISTENCE!!!

If we then HUMBLE OURSELVES BEFORE OUR NEIGHBORS, we are showing the world that JESUS CHRIST IS REAL!!  In fact, more simply stated, we are showing the world JESUS CHRIST.