Tag: Humility

He Loved Them

 

man holding sheep statuette

One of my favorite bible verses is John 13:1. I read it one time and it was different from many of the other times I read it. It was that translation that drew me to it. The verse means one thing taken alone and another when taken in context. Both ways are powerful so let’s take a look at both.

… when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end (he now showed them the full extent of his love) John 13:1

       In context after the verse, we see Jesus wash the feet of his disciples showing that even the Son of God was a servant and showed humility as an example of how we are to live. If this world were to set pride aside and love each other with a servant’s heart, we would live in a much better place. A place that is one step closer to Heaven and the presence of God. This verse, in context, showed that Christ wanted his disciples to understand a very important lesson about his followers having a servant attitude and heart.

       The verse that first caught my attention and stirred my spirit had the words shown in prenthesis above. Instead of focusing on what comes after, my heart reach toward the beginning of the verse. Jesus knew that his time to go to the Father had come. It was time for him to be betrayed and crucified. Knowing that time had come, he was now going to show the full extent of his love to his diciples by dying for them even though they were not ready to fully understand his sacrifice. Imagine the love it takes to go to the cross when his disciples, and many people today, still don’t understand or accept his sacrifice. Imagine as a parent you sacrificing your well being and happiness to a child who may never understand or acknowledge your sacrifice. Although that is supposed to be our job as parents, the selfishness of this world draws parents away from the love our Father showed us by allowing His son to die for us.

       Neither understanding of God’s living word is incorrect. The lessons Jesus came to teach us are so numerous that his words live forever and grow in the hearts of his followers through the help of the Holy Spirit, the helper that Jesus promised us as he joined the Father in Heaven.

       Read this verse and see that Jesus loved his disciples to the end of his life and he continues to love us until the end of time. Don’t miss his perfect life and sacrifice for your sin, and don’t miss the servent’s heart we are called to have as we follow Jesus.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends – John 15:13

       Sometimes laying down your life means putting the well being of other before yours. Laying down your life could be death it could also be humility. Both require sacrifice, the laying down of your own self-interest and ambition.

Lost in Pride

thDZTCNR6S

                Many people think of pride as someone who thinks they are better than those around them. People focus on the “chest beating” pride that is the most outwardly evident form. The dangerous kinds of pride are the less obvious types. These are self-reliance and self-focus. All pride drives us away from God and opens up a foot-hold for the deceiver. God opposed the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (James 4:6) Pride is the reason the devil was cast out of heaven and is the source of all sin. The pride of the deceiver is what causes him to oppose God and oppose those who serve God here on earth. Any pride that you hold is a connection to the nature of satan and a barrier to closeness with the Lord.

Self-Reliance

                It is human nature to try and do things for ourselves in our own way. We drift from reliance on God. This sinful nature draws us into a life soiled by pain, frustration, and worry. We feel out of place and unsettled as we try and mask the missing peace with worldly pleasures through more self-reliance. These earthly “band-aides” leave us deeper in despair. Someone who lives in self-reliance builds a house with no foundation. When they fall there is no limit to the depths of that trouble.

                On the other hand, we can fight that nature. We can rely on God. He desires us to rely on His provision and designed us to walk in reliance on Him. We were designed for a purpose and God wants us to walk in His light. If we follow the path of God we a fulfilled and at peace in our journey through life. We draw closer to God in reliance on Him and the deceiver loses his ability to draw on the pride that causes self-reliance. God calls us to humility and submission so that He can lead us in the peace and joy found in Him.

Self-Focus

       Humans are selfish by nature. From birth we think only of ourselves. The dangerous position of self-focus causes many things that create deep turmoil in our live. This kind of pride is the source of anxiety, depression, anger, unforgiveness, etc. It’s sad to see the world turn to medication over God. When we think the world revolves around us or that we deserve more than we do, we fall victim to pride. We are anxious when we think we can control the things around us. We get depressed when we don’t get what we feel we should or feel the way we want. Anger occurs when we feel wronged because we don’t deserve undesired treatment or belong in a certain situation. We have trouble forgiving when we want additional attention for the wrong we perceive. All of those situations find their source in personal opinions on what we think should be true.

       We have to turn to God and realize our mission on earth is to serve the growth of His kingdom and to glorify Him as His image bearers. The world owes us nothing. We have no control over the outcomes when God is in control. People are not focused on how we are affected by their actions because their fallenness causes them to be self-focused. It’s not our job to hold anyone accountable for the pride that we can now recognize. We must show them what humility looks like as they continue to walk in pride. Their escape from the prison of pride is between them and God. Focus on God and His plans. Focus on your involvement in His kingdom and turn away from the temptation to make any situation revolve around you.

 

       The most dangerous part of pride is that pride keeps us from seeing the pride in ourselves and others. We cannot admit the existence of our pride because our pride will not allow it. That is the reason why, even in the eyes of defeat, the devil cannot admit to himself that he cannot defeat God. People cannot see their own pride so you cannot call out their flaw. You must be an image bearer of humility and love that draws them to God’s peace that radiates from you. If you read this and find pride in your heart, you can thank God for that revelation and know that He personally is calling you out of the darkness of sin. You cannot see your own pride without the humility God gives you. The cycle of pride requires Godly intervention to break. Thank God for His continued work in and through you. Love others in their fallenness and draw close to God who loves you too much to lose you to pride, the source of all sin.

Love and Temptation (1)

th050119B8

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.

thMQ6ZKEO2

The Beatitudes (8)

thUO41WFT6

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

It is inevitable that a life in Jesus Christ will not be easy as the world looks to destroy the things they do not understand. A world full of hardened hearts who groan as they are overtaken by sin look upon the faithful with contempt and hatred. The deceiver works in those people to cause trouble in an attempt to destroy faith. The easiest way to persevere is to cover the light of God in you and blend in to avoid attacks. This decision will help you blend into the sin of the world while you slowly lose touch with God. Over time people of great faith find life uncomfortable and painful as a heart once filled with the Holy Spirit grows hard as it blends with the other hardened hearts. A life of persecution should be smiled on as you realize you are becoming “set apart” (holy) in Christ likeness. At the same time we can rejoice knowing that discomfort here proves that we are better prepared for eternity in our real home, for ours is the kingdom of heaven.

th1IR2L40V

(Romans 8:35) 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

th

The Beatitudes (3)

thKC8U5NWO

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.

thOMR8C80T

The Beatitudes (Intro/1)

th93G8CNX6

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.

thGCVAE7SV

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.

 

thFRSV2YPV

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.”