humility

Our Harmonious Response to God’s Children – VOTD.05.22.18

I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3

We’ve already seen that unity isn’t about identicality, it’s about like-heartedness. So how do we cooperate with God to live in unity and how is it maintained? It depends a lot on our character in Jesus. Paul lists 5 characteristics that Christian unity depends on: humility, gentleness, patience, mutual forbearance, and love.

No big surprise that he begins with humility. Humility is essential to unity. Pride almost always results in discord and discord is almost always the result of pride at some level. Humility is the attitude that Jesus displayed in becoming a human being in the first place (Phil 2:3-8). In fact the word Paul used here is actually “humility of mind”—Humble-minded. That it’s an attitude that recognizes the worth and value of other people and allows for their diverse opinions.

Think about it for a moment. The people we tend to like to be around are people who show us respect even though they may not agree with us in many areas. The ones we don’t like to be with are the ones we sense disrespect or feel smug superiority from. Rather than maneuvering for the respect or esteem of others (which is the nature of pride), if we give them our respect, because we recognize their inherent God-given worth (which is the nature of this humility of mind that Ephesians is talking about), then we’ll be promoting harmony in our relationships; and result will probably be that they’ll respond to us with the same respect they’ve received. (more…)

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Wisdom: Gift for the One Who Has Everything – VOTD.11.27.17

For although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.  Romans 1:21,22

God owns everything. That’s a simple theological truth. There is nothing we can give Him that He doesn’t already own. We can’t increase or add to Him. Part of the inescapable truth of the Gospel is that we are entirely and unavoidably recipients. We even “love Him because He first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). “He is not served by human hands as though he needed anything” (Acts 17:25).

That’s just basic truth. But it raises an obvious question: if God owns all (1 Cor 15:28), how can we (who are nothing and have nothing by comparison) please him?

And that is the wisdom of giving thanks. God is so magnificent and so awesome, we have to respond somehow, but how can we respond in a meaningful way to Someone who’s got it all? We can’t add to his glory, but we can honor it. When you come down to it, there’s only one real answer to the question: What can I do for God? —To live for His praise and glory. (more…)

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Wisdom: The Opposite of Pride: Ingratitude – VOTD.11.21.17

For although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened.  Romans 1:21

The Israelites grumbled in the wilderness, though God fed, clothed, and led them through it (Ex 16:2; Deut 8:2). We look at them today, and find it hard to believe how their ungrateful hearts took God’s daily miracles for granted, and we often miss the reality that we walk in their footsteps. Ingratitude is epidemic in our day in our society as well as in our churches.

The foundation of ingratitude is self-idolization. When it’s all about me, there’s not much room for gratitude. All that’s left is grumbling, complaining, arguing. That’s why Paul wrote this command: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world…” (Phil 2:14-15).

We look at our circumstances in pride, and our hearts tell us we are good, that we should get what we want, and if we don’t, it’s not fair and we’re justified in our complaining and demanding our rights. Because being comfortable and convenienced in every way…it’s our right. And the result is that anger wells up inside of us over our inconveniences and perceived inequities. That is false wisdom (Rom 1:22); it’s “showing contempt for the riches of His kindness” (2:4); it’s ingratitude. (more…)

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Wisdom: The Opposite of Pride: Entitlement – VOTD.11.20.17

In humility value others above yourselves. Philippians 2:3

Most Christians are aware that the law and God’s grace are at odds with each other. The best thing that often comes from attempting to follow the biblical law is that we learn that we can’t do it…leading us to surrender to the grace of God and find His yoke is easy and His burden light.

Entitlement worse in so many ways. It is more at odds with God’s grace than the law, and it doesn’t easily lead us to surrender to God’s grace, either. At its core, the Gospel is that we are not entitled to anything, except just punishment for our sins (Rom 3:23; 6:23). Entitlement rejects that truth.

As today’s verse shows, self-sacrifice stems from a humble heart. Entitlement is rooted in a prideful heart. We deceive ourselves into thinking we deserve better than we have: More love, success, comfort, accolades, more attention from people, and ultimately, we think we deserve God’s grace (which is an oxymoron).

Oh, yes… And we think we don’t deserve suffering, heartbreak, or correction. So when we do experience these things, we grow bitter, frustrated, and disturbed because we believe we’re entitled to a life that is more focused on ourselves and the people we love, and less focused on people we disagree with. We tacitly ignore that we deserve nothing. Apart from Jesus’ grace, we deserve condemnation.

Note: we are often better at covering up our spirit of entitlement in areas of what we deserve better than covering up our spirit of entitlement in areas of what we don’t deserve. Yet the presence of the latter always points to the former. (more…)

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Wisdom: The Opposite of Pride – VOTD.11.14.17

Be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:5-7

For the most part, pride is the opposite of wisdom. Wisdom and humility are often connected in the Bible and this is no coincidence. The reason: Pride leaves us vulnerable to just about every other root sin. Pride both drives us to sin and leaves us addicted. Pride destroys us. Here’s why:

Pride produces a self-righteousness, hypocritical spirit:
When we’re proud, we elevate our status in our own eyes. This makes us repugnant to the people around us (unless they’re playing along for what they can get out of it). Worse yet, pride has no room for the mercy of God. When we think we’re better (holier, closer to God) than everyone else, we’re incapable of not finding fault with others—while being blind to our own faults and weaknesses. We become slaves to our own pride. It’s a compulsion.

The Pharisees’ pride blinded them to their own sin and far worse, it blinded them to God’s mercy. It drove them to be callous and brutal toward others when they knew that loving their neighbor as themselves was God’s requirement. Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness” (Mat 23:27). The vicious cycle here was that pride left them defenseless to sinful temptations like hate, and then they had to cover their sin to protect their pride. They were trapped—prisoners of their own egos.

Pride naturally leads to rebellion:
Rebellion is the reflex response of pride in our hearts. Rebellion says, “I know better than God,” when we don’t. Often prideful rebellion blinds us to what is in our own self-interest. But even when we can see what would be best for us, a rebellious heart prevents us from doing it. (more…)

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Wisdom: Among Non-believers – VOTD.11.13.17

Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.  Colossians 4:5-6

There seems to be two mistakes Christians make in living out their faith in front of unbelievers. The first is not living it out and the second is living it out in unwise ways—ways that display a spirit of superiority, marginalizing, or even antagonizing the lost.

It’s important to be gracious and attractive—patient and compassionate whenever possible—when we’re dealing with the lost, and that means allowing them to define themselves just as we speak for ourselves. Often, it is in trying to explain themselves that the lost discover the weaknesses/ softness of their own position. But they’ll blow right over it if they are already on the defensive or in conflict with us.

That’s why today’s verse is so important: if we “live wisely among those who are not believers,” and make our “conversation be gracious and attractive”, many of their assumptions and stereotypes about Christians dissolve (at for least Christians like us). And often, it is negative encounters with local churches and church people that has fed their negative stereotypes about Christians—and built up walls against Jesus. (more…)

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Christian Kindness in the Little Things – VOTD.10.10.16

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

You have probably heard of the term “servant evangelism.” The term itself is not in the Bible, but the idea is there. Servant evangelism is simply showing the love of God through our own caring and loving actions toward others. Sometimes it’s the person to whom we show kindness to that is blessed—and sometimes they even turn to Jesus. The biblical model, however is that other people see our loving actions toward someone else, and in turn ‘glorify your Father in heaven’.

Jesus carried this one step further when He told us that the way we show His kind of love is by how we treat each other (within the family of God) “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). That “one-another” means people within your own group—within your circle. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with outreach, but that’s not what He’s referring to here. (more…)

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