Welcome!
Today: An attitude of humility, not just an appearance!
Passage: 1 John 2
5 Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”[a] 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5, NIV 84) –emphasis added
“Humility” is one of the most misunderstood terms
For most of us, a person is “humble” when they are soft spoken and when someone does not easily react to an aggressive situation and so on
But the opposite could be true. A person with humble heart could react spontaneously to a situation, and then break down immediately. They go to God and cry out! They know/admit they are not perfect
People with humilty repent and confess. People without humilty assume that they are always right and never repent or confess
Many of us fall into the second category, when we think that being part of a certain system/church gets us an easy access to heaven!
Jesus said this parable on the two types of people:
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about[a] himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
(Luke 18, NIV 84) – emphasis added
Humility and prayer are very connected
Prayer is the first action in connection with humility; other actions follow
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7, NIV 84)-emphasis added
One of the foremost marks of biblical humility is prayer
How is your prayer-life? Is God answering your prayers?
If not, the problem may be on your end/mine!
We may not be able to reach the level of humility that Jesus had, but may be we can atleast start getting in that path
Next to prayer, it is obedience that God expects from us as a sign of humility
If we call “Lord, Lord” and do not obey his commands, that is rebellion!
We better not humbly rebel against God!
Let our humility be approved by God, than men!
Have a blessed day!
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are my model and thy word, my moral guide. Help me to make sure that I have the kind of humility that you expect from me- in prayer, obedience and action. Let my personality be hidden in yours.Amen
“What we need is an attitude and action of humility, not just an appearance of it!”