Tag: Humble

Marks of a True Christian (12 of 12)

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Never be wise in your own sight

Being wise in our own sight grows arrogance in our hearts. True wisdom accepts reproof and direction. (Proverbs 9:9) Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning Being wise in your own sight will not only slow your ability to grow closer to the infinitely wise God, it’s outward manifestation will draw people away from us preventing us from being able to speak God’s truth into their lives. People who profess a quality about themselves prevent the true admiration and connection found in humility. This goes for the admiration and connection of people in need to us as well as our admiration and connection to God.  The haughty nature of self-professed wisdom breaks the flow of God’s spirit through a believer as a vessel. We reflect the light of God. If we allow ourselves to get tarnished in arrogance, the light doesn’t brighten the world the way it is intended to through His faithful.  

Love and Temptation (1)

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Love over Pride

Love is not prideful, or as stated above, arrogant. True love requires that we empty ourselves of pride and find humility as Jesus did. It is in this humble state that people can come close enough to us to be warmed by our love, and God willing be changed and grow from it. Pride builds walls that love cannot penetrate. These walls isolate people and leave them to the corruption of solitude. Allow love to permeate your life so that pride cannot exist.

(1 Corinthians 13:4-7) 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

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The Beatitudes (3)

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

“Meek” implies a humility and trust in God as opposed to relying on our own strength. Focusing on our own strength puts us in a position of inevitable failure and disappointment. When we become selfish and inwardly focused we no longer seek the will of God put lead ourselves directly into the sin that comes from the fleshly means of the world. The “blessed” happiness comes from the knowledge that any suffering in humility will be rewarded by God’s inheritance for His children in the “new earth” described in Revelation.

(Proverbs 22:4) 4 The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.

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The Beatitudes (Intro/1)

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Matthew 5:3-12

As Jesus began His ministry He had gathered His disciples and was traveling through Galilee teaching and healing. (Matthew 4:23) 23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. As knowledge of His words and works grew people came to see Him. It was at this point that Jesus went up to the mountain and gave the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). The beginning of this sermon is known as the Beatitudes.

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These teachings portray the inward qualities of a heart set on discipleship of God. Seeing as our actions and words are reflections of the condition of our hearts, aligning our hearts with these qualities through the Holy Spirit is vital to being a reflection of God and His conduit to this fallen world. These traits are not optional, they are the expectation of God in His followers.

 

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3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Poor in spirit” refers to the humility found in those people who realize their need for God. They know that they are unworthy and must rely on the grace of God and their faith in His strength. It is this realization that leads to being “blessed” as the passage says, which is the happiness that comes from knowing your place in God’s hand and thriving from that position as He works through you for His purpose and His glory. (1 Peter 5:5) “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”