Hello Friends and Happy Sunday. I mentioned that I'm studying humility during my quiet time. Ugh. It's been good, wonderful even, don't get me wrong. But what a learning experience.
How ashamed I've felt; I'm far from humility even after 16 years as a Christian.
I see this study as monumental in my Christian walk. God has been speaking to me loudly about humility for nearly 2 years, but only now have I begun to really study it.
My personal stumbling blocks are these:
~ When I work hard for others, I want to be thanked.
~ I sometimes think ill of others in a blind effort to build myself up in my own mind.
~ When I don't feel like I'm enough, I work harder, not for the Lord, but for myself.
~ I'm willing to criticize my housemates, but I'm hurt and sad when they criticize me; I even try to defend myself.
~ I care what others think of me.
There are other things, but these stand out today. It's only by the grace of a glorious God that I'm learning these things. My job now that I understand what humility truly is, is to pray for it in my heart and ask for forgiveness when I fail in it.
Humility, I think, is a matter of putting on God's glasses, so to speak. When I see myself through His eyes, I see my filth and my need for forgiveness and redemption. If I can just remember the view from the God glasses--one of filthy sin--my heart will reflect humility; it will reflect gratitude that He could possibly love me enough to submit to death on a cross for me.
If I trust him with my salvation, I can trust him with my worth, and not care about what I'm worth to others.
A humble person...
...knows who she is in Christ.
...has a grateful heart.
...does not need to defend herself.
...walks in the power of God's Holy Spirit, not in her personal power.
...puts others first.
...defuses arguments, rather than participates in them; she is a peacemaker.
...handles unfair treatment peaceably.
...receives criticism graciously and learns from it.
...is not devastated by her own failures.
...asks for forgiveness readily.
...is courteous and loving, even when she needs to be firm.
...seeks the good in others.
...feels strong in the Lord.
...is aware of her gifts, but understands they come from God's grace alone.
...sees herself through God's eyes rather than her own.
...confesses her sins before God and man.
...submits to authority.
...accepts a lowly place; does not seek to exalt herself.
...associates with the poor and lowly.
...chooses to serve others.
...forgives readily.
Rewards for being truly humble:
Humble people...
...receive God's favor. (Prov. 3:34)
...receive God's wisdom. (Prov. 11:2)
...find riches, honor and life. (Prov. 22:4)
...will be exalted by God. (1 Peter 5:6)
...can get along with others. (1 Samuel 25)
Humility Quotes:
Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. --C.S. Lewis
A man can counterfeit love, he can counterfeit faith, he can counterfeit hope and all the other graces, but it is very difficult to counterfeit humility.-- D. L. Moody
The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. He has accepted God's estimate of his own life: In himself, nothing; In God, everything. He knows well that the world will never see him as God sees him and he has stopped caring.-- A.W. Tozer
Nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh like service, and nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in hiddenness. The flesh whines against service but it screams against hidden service. It strains and pulls for honor and recognition. --Richard Foster
Humility is nothing but truth, and pride is nothing but lying. -- Vincent de Paul
I am sure that there are many Christians who will confess that their experience has been very much like my own—that we had long known the Lord without realizing that meekness and lowliness of heart should be the distinguishing feature of the disciple, as they were of the Master. Such humility is not a thing that will come on its own. It must be made the object of special desire, prayer, faith and practice. --Andrew Murray
I long to accomplish a great and noble task; but my chief duty is to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble -- Helen Keller
Simplicity is the nature of great souls.-- Papa Ramadas
We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed. --Brother Lawrence
How do we know if we have a servant’s heart? By how we act when we are treated like one!--Unknown
Be not proud of race, face, place, or grace. --Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.-- Thomas a Kempis
The meek man will attain a place of soul rest. As he walks on in meekness he will be happy to let God defend him. The old struggle to defend himself is over. He has found the peace which meekness brings.-- A.W. Tozer
We have forgotten the gracious hand which has preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving Grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. --Abraham Lincoln
Your turn. What have you learned about humility this year?
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1 comment:
This is an amazing well written post so full of truth. Isn't funny how pride hides and masks itself in our lives. Love the quotes you shared also...POWERFUL!
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