Humility: God’s response to irritating people.

Article by Jay Younts

How many people do you think of as being less significant than yourself? 

Sounds a kind of arrogant, doesn’t it? 

Okay, how about this? Are you irritated by people who don’t do things as you think they should be done? Or are you often irritated at how self-centered other people are? Do you feel “put out” with people close to you more that you feel drawn to serve them? These are indications of self-importance. Not a pleasant thought!  

Being irritated with people leads to anger. That anger may lead to bitterness and cynicism. This produces the sin you didn’t see coming: self-righteousness. When you become consumed with irritation toward other people, you become self-deceived and self-righteous.  The sin of self-righteousness is almost always accompanied by self-deception. We may become so focused on being irritated by others that we are blind to the logs of sin blocking our own vision. When you are dominated by being irritated at people, you fall prey to self-righteousness.

Irritation is a gateway sin that, among other things, leads to stress that can lead to poor health. Really? How does this happen? As you will see as you continue reading, being irritated at others is being wise in your own eyes. It is self-importance, the opposite of humility. Proverbs 3 teaches that being wise in your eyes has a negative impact on your body and can bring ill health. Irritation will cause you to lose more than patience! Your body is not made to coexist with irritation. 

The Holy Spirit has a radically different way for you to respond to irritating people: humility! He wants you to consider these people as being more important than you are. He commands you to have the same attitude as Christ when interacting with irritating people. Listen to what the Holy Spirit says:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.  Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 2:3-5)

If Christ responded to us the way we respond to irritating people, we would have no hope! If your goal is to pursue the attitude of Christ, then you will not be dominated with irritation at the actions of those around you. Instead, your first thoughts will be about how you can serve, rather than about being irritated. Christ is the exact picture of humility. He laid aside his own well-being to honor the will of his father and serve you and me!

Service and self-importance do not mix. Truly serving irritating people consists of humility and honor for God. Thinking well of yourself will hinder you from thinking well of God.

Irritating people are opportunities from God to focus on serving him as you look for how to serve rather than being annoyed.

Yes, it is true. People can be annoying or irritating! That is what sin does. Don’t be poisoned by irritation. Find ways to honor God by considering those irritating people as more important that yourself. 

Don’t misunderstand! The Holy Spirit is not telling you to become the servant of those who are irritating. He calling you to become God’s servant so that you can clearly see how to honor Christ and show the grace of the gospel to them. He is calling you to humility!

Posted at: https://www.shepherdpress.com/humility-gods-response-to-irritating-people/?fbclid=IwAR1_NnZU9PLDumFH5DrDi8NfizlQoYxttuw3DdxhHwcsl-cPW9ck7MqVVd0

Ego is the Enemy

Jeremy Writebol

Psalms of Ascent

Ego won’t leave me alone. He lurks in the neglected corners of my heart.

Out of the shadows, he whispers just loud enough to make sure he gets my attention. He’ll say things like, “You’re so good at ministry. Look at the scope of your leadership!” Or, “Your influence is growing. You’re doing such a great job leading your team.”

TICKLING THE EARS

Ego likes to remind me of where I was a few years ago and how I’ve risen like a phoenix from the ashes in such a short time. He tells me my theology is solid and my leadership is gracious. He points out how helpful my preaching has been and how I’m just really hitting it out of the park. He tickles my ears by telling me exactly what I want to hear. Sometimes he doesn’t have to come up with his own material. He just reminds me of when so-and-so said this or that and then embellishes it to get me to think I’m really a big deal.

I like it when he does this, of course. Ego helps me feel valued, appreciated, successful, and important. I have a love-hate relationship with this little monster inside of me. The danger is that I enjoy having Ego around. I love the way he puffs me up but I hate that I believe him.

I know the scriptures speak of God hating the proud and how God will bring to nothing all those who raise themselves up against him. So I have to keep Ego in check. But doing so is difficult.

PILGRIMS’ PRIDE

For the pilgrims who sung the Psalms of Ascent on their way towards the Holy Land, there could be a smug, self-congratulatory feeling upon reaching the temple in Jerusalem after the arduous journey. Arriving with the throngs to worship, feast, and celebrate could feel like a big deal. Like they had arrived in more than just the literal sense.

Much like those making the pilgrimage to Rome in Martin Luther’s day climbed the Sacred Steps to receive the plenary indulgences awaiting them at the top, the Hebrew pilgrims could bask in their own religious success. With their close friend Ego crouching in the corridors of their hearts, they could hear him whisper, “You did it! You’re so great. God must really love you now. Way to go!”

But pride has no place in worship. Worshiping God leaves no place for spiritual victory laps or trophy ceremonies. The final Psalm of Ascent puts Ego in his place and commands a way of living that shuts down the pilgrims’ pride. The Psalmist declares,

“Now bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord” (Ps. 134:1).

We get to the top, we feel the accomplishment of our spiritual journeys, and we hear, “Give glory to God! Praise him, you servant! Worship and exalt him in the holy place—not yourself!” We bless the Lord because, if we don’t, we end up listening to Ego and blessing ourselves. That makes Ego the enemy, as one author recently put it.

EGO IS THE ENEMY

Ego is the enemy because he steals the spotlight intended for God and redirects our worship from the Lord to ourselves. This is why Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk. 9:23). The cross crushes Ego.

Blessing God—not ourselves—must be the attitude and posture of our whole lives. The Psalms of Ascent end with a reminder that it God who got us to the top. Psalm 134 reminds us that though we have begun leaving the lives we knew and receiving the blessing of God, it is not a result of our own accomplishments.

God did it. So he receives the glory. And when he receives the glory, we receive the blessing: “May the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.”

What a way to conclude one year and embrace a new one! Let’s praise and exalt God for his grace in working through us in 2018. In the last year, you may have lost weight, read the whole Bible, purchased a home, or learned to forgive. But let’s not forget that blessings like these come from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. We stand firm in our faith because of God, not our own self-righteousness. We get to “Zion” because of the blood shed by his son, Jesus, whose righteousness is imputed to us, and whose Spirit works to transform us into his image.

So we give glory and thanks and honor and worship to God. And yet, he pours out more blessings, as we’ve learned here at Gospel-Centered Discipleship during the last year.

GCD’S BLESSINGS IN 2018

As we’ve seen, all our accomplishments are a grace from God, and so we here at GCD give thanks to God for his kindness to us. As we abide in him, he makes us prosper and bear fruit. He graciously gives us the bandwidth to write and communicate the goodness of his mercy and grace. Before 2018 draws to a close, we want to take a look back at everything God has done through our work over the last twelve months—not to stroke our Ego, but to glorify God.

In October, we held our first ever Writers’ Intensive in Louisville to foster a live environment for Christian writers and editors to learn in community about producing good, true, and beautiful content. At the Intensive, we heard from authors Jonathan Dodson, Hannah Anderson, and Mike Cosper. Our aim in the year ahead is to bring events and training like this to more of you around the country.

This was a year of huge growth for our readership and community. In 2018, we published two books and saw our site traffic grow by 50% to an average of 20,000 page views per month. That’s thanks to God’s blessing, first and foremost, and to you, our faithful readers. Page views are great, but they’re not everything. Around here, we pray for God to increase our traffic inasmuch as what we’re publishing brings him glory. I believe our growth this year is the result of publishing God-glorifying articles like “The Big God Behind Your ‘Small’ Ministry,” and “‘I Don’t Know How You Do It’: God’s Grace for Foster Parents,” and books like Walk With Me: Learning to Love and Follow Jesus and That Word Above All Earthly Powers.

We publish books and articles to help make, mature, and multiply disciples of Jesus—not ourselves or anyone else. That makes Ego our enemy. We cannot magnify God and ourselves at the same time. We praise God for his grace in 2018 and look forward to another year of glorifying him.

Jeremy Writebol is the Executive Director of GCD. He is the husband of Stephanie and father of Allison and Ethan. He serves as the lead campus pastor of Woodside Bible Church in Plymouth, MI. He is also an author and contributor to several GCD Books including everPresent and Make, Mature, Multiply. He writes personally at jwritebol.net. You can read all of Jeremy’s articles for GCD here.

Posted at: http://gcdiscipleship.com/2018/12/30/ego-is-the-enemy/

Do You Want to Be Happy?

Article by Rick Thomas

Show me a happy person. Are they generous? Probably. Show me a discontented person? Are they selfish? Probably. There is a circular Bible logic that goes like this: God loves happy givers, and if God loves on a giver, the giver is happy.

It does not matter where you jump into that circular sentence, all of the words connect to each other: God-Love-Happy-Giver. There is a reason for this: when we give generously we are living out who we are in Christ–we are emulating the Lord.

Because God is a generous giver, as the gospel implies, it only makes sense that Christians want to be generous too. Being generous is more than giving your money away. It is giving your life away, which is the gospel. Jesus Christ gave His life away. Happiness comes when we model the self-sacrifice of the Savior by giving our lives away.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. – 2 Corinthians 8:9

How generous are you? How do you proactively think about and plan to give your life away? Here is a short list of things generous people give away.

• They give away their money.

• They give their love away.

• They give their encouragement away.

• They give their Christian example away.

• They give their joy away.

• They give their kind words away.

• They give their time away.

• They give their homes away (hospitality).

The Point Is – “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” – 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

Flow-Through

In our organization, we use the term “flow-through” to describe the process of being a middleman or distributor of what others give to us. For example, each Friday evening we go to our local Panera Bread (sandwich shop) and pick up all of their leftover bread.

Each year we receive more than $30,000 (retail value) of bread products. We bring the bread home, separate it, and distribute it to various people or organizations. We’ve been doing this since 2010. The reason for our bread distribution is multi-faceted. For example,

• We do it because we can.

• We do it to model the generosity of our Savior.

• We do it to put the gospel on display in as many places as possible.

• We do it to emulate for our children the giving of time, effort, and bread.

• We do it to feed those who need God’s kindness through the provision of food.

The bread is an example of what “flow-through” means. Someone gives to us and we, in turn, give to others. We’re merely the coupler or the connector that joins the giver (Panera) with the receiver (those in need).

We trust that Panera Bread will give us bread each Friday evening. Panera Bread believes that we will do what we said we would do–give it to others. This concept is analogous to the Christian life.

• You trust God that He will provide for you (Matthew 6:33).

• God believes that you will give away what He gives to you (Luke 6:38).

This worldview is not a romantic Hollywood pay-it-forward notion. This idea is about incarnating the Savior before a dying world who need examples of the practical gospel in action. It is about receiving to give so the name of God can be made famous.

God Loves Generous Givers

The Father is asking you to trust Him by giving your life away. If you believe Him this way, He will bless you–not so you can have more for yourself, but so you will have more to give away. Will you trust Him by sharing what He has given to you?

These promises are not about the prosperity gospel, but about God blessing us so we can bless others. You give a lot. He provides a lot. It’s not about personal gain. You are the coupler, the “flow-through principle.” What are you giving away?

• Your time, money, wisdom, care, joy?

• What are you exporting to others, to your spouse, to your children, to your church, to your neighborhood, to your world?

God gives to generous givers so they will have more to export to others. Christians are in the import/export business. We receive it so we can give it to others. This worldview has always been the case in God’s mind.

Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you. – Deuteronomy 16:17

Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. – Proverbs 3:9-10

One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. – Proverbs 11:24

Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. – Proverbs 22:9

Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. – Proverbs 28:27

Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. – Malachi 3:10

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. – Luke 6:38

He blesses generosity by personally enriching you so you can meet the needs of others so they will glorify Him. Test yourself on this matter.

• Do you give generously?

• Do you give willingly?

• Do you give cheerfully?

• Do you give carefully?

• Do you give in a premeditative way?

Do Not Be Anxious: It’s the Gospel

Did you know that God cares more about you than about birds (Matthew 6:26)? No, really, did you know this? If so, let me ask you this question:

• Do you become anxious about giving?

• Is there a low-level fear-factor going on in your heart when it comes to giving?

If so, you may be aware that God cares more about you than birds, but you don’t believe it at the functional level of your thinking. It is one thing to know something, but another thing to practice it. Bible knowledge only has value when it becomes a practice in our lives primarily.

Will you trust God in the matter of giving yourself and your things away for the glory of His name? Don’t be anxious about your life. God cares more for you than the birds that fly over your head. Live like sons and daughters of your heavenly Father. Trust Him. It is through your giving that God is glorified. Let me ask you this: What is your first thought when it comes to giving?

• What will it cost me?

• How will it help others?

If you’re thinking like a gospelized-individual, your eye is on what your giving will do, not what it will cost. As far as God is concerned, giving is not about the thing offered, but about helping people in need. Giving is the most explicit way we can model the gospel in our lives, and when we do this, you are putting God on display.

And You Benefit, Too

In Philippians, we learn about a man who gave His all for the good of others, and in the end, He was highly exalted because of His generous giving.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:9-11

Quite simply, this is how the gospel works. I’ve already shared Luke 6:38:  “For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” But you say, “I don’t give to get.”

That’s fine, but that does not stop God from blessing you for your generosity toward others. You might not jump into the air just so you can come back down to the ground, but that does not matter. If you jump into the air, you will return to earth. It’s a law. If you give, you will receive. It is a promise from God.

I’m glad that you’re trying to be humble about your generosity, but the fact remains that God loves a generous giver and if you are liberal in your giving, expect the love of God to shower you.

This response from the Lord is how it works. One of the sadder commentaries about selfish people is that they spend their entire lives trying to satisfy themselves and never come to understand this Bible truth: if you give, you will get.

I tell selfish husbands this regularly. I try to explain to them that if they would give kindness, communication, love, affection, repentance, confession, forgiveness, or the other cheek to their wives, that they will get what they want. (And the same applies for wives.)

What do they want? They want a loving wife who respects them. It’s as easy as pie: you give, and it will return to you. (And if she does not give, the Lord will bless you because you’re honoring Him regardless of how she responds.) It’s not complicated folks. Trust God. Give your life away and watch God bless you in ways that you could have never imagined, even if the “return” is different from what you expected.

Plan to Receive from God

If your motive is to give your life away, you will be a happy person. If your motivation is to get, you will never be satisfied. The gospel is not unidirectional, as though all you do is give. The generous giver is lavished upon by the Lord–the giver becomes a receiver by default. But you must remember the order: you give first and then you receive.

Christ gave and then He received. Two people were blessed–Christ and others, but the divine order was to provide something before you benefit from the Lord’s favor. I like the way Paul said it in Philippians. Other than Christ, he was one of the most outrageous and generous givers in the Bible.

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. – Philippians 4:11-13

The secret to happiness is to give your life away. The secret to misery is to hoard what was given to you, while seeking more ways to gain more, for self-serving and self-promoting purposes.

You will be more blessed if you choose to give as the first call to action, rather than wanting to receive (Acts 20:35). The reason for this is because God loves a generous giver. In what ways do you need to be more generous in your giving?

• Do you need to give more money away?

• Do you need to give more time away?

• Do you need to give more repentance away?

• Do you need to give more forgiveness away?

• Do you need to give more wisdom away?

• Do you need to give more (fill in the blank)?

What is it that you are holding onto because you’re afraid to let it go? Whatever that is, I appeal to you to become a cheerful giver. Lay it down for the glory of God and the benefit of others. Do you want to be happy? There is only one way: you must give up your life in the specific way in which God is speaking to you right now.

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. – Mark 10:45

Why are you living? What is your purpose in life? Do you wanna be happy? The gospelized individual is here to serve others. Blessed is the man who chooses to give his life away generously.

Posted at: https://rickthomas.net/do-you-wanna-be-happy/

Exalting God by Humbling Ourselves

Article by Al Mohler

God’s Abundant Physical Provisions 

In his magisterial work The Institutes of the Christian Religion, the sixteenth-century reformer John Calvin remarked that we can never truly know ourselves without first coming to know the character of God. As Calvin famously stated, “It is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God’s face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinize himself.” God is our starting point in every theological and spiritual endeavor. God’s character and glory are our first frame of reference.

Up to this point, the Lord’s Prayer has revealed a great deal about the character of God. We have seen that for those who are in Christ, God is a caring Father. Jesus emphasized God’s transcendence and omnipotence by observing that he is “in heaven.” He established the worth of God and the value of his glory by teaching that God’s name should be hallowed. Finally, Jesus emphasizes that God is king–the sovereign Lord who will bring his kingdom to every corner of the earth.

Indeed, the first lines of the Lord’s Prayer paint an awesome portrait of God. In light of these truths, Jesus’ subsequent turn to consider our own needs–“Give us this day our daily bread”–serves as a clear and unmistakable reminder that we are merely creatures; God is the creator. We are needy; God is the provider.

God has designed humans to be dependent. From the moment of birth, we rely on the kindness of others to meet our needs. We need our parents to feed us, dress us, and even train us to sleep. Even as we grow older, we remain tremendously needy. We depend on others for relationships. We need communities in which to live and work. We depend on the government for safety and security. In other words, there is no such thing as the “self-made man.” We have no sufficiency in and of ourselves, and we delude ourselves by believing we can be truly independent of others. Luther once reminisced that our physical needs remind us that we are but creatures composed of dirt. Our lives are frail, fragile, and wholly dependent on the goodness of God.

The petition “give us this day our daily bread” reminds us of our dependence on God for even the most fundamental needs of life. The contrast with the depiction of God given earlier in the prayer is striking. He is glorious, hallowed, in heaven, and omnipotent. We, on the other hand, are incapable of even getting basic sustenance without his help. In these words, then, Jesus teaches us to exalt God while humbling ourselves. The radical God-centeredness of the prayer continues. Man’s pride has no place before the throne of God.

Physical Needs in Biblical Perspective 

We are dependent on God. Even prior to the fall, humans needed God to provide for them. Adam needed God to provide Eve to fulfill his need for a relationship. Adam and Eve could tend the garden, but only God could make it grow. Sin did not create our dependence; we are dependent simply because we are creatures.

Even though Adam and Eve were dependent before the fall, their only experience was one of surplus and abundance. They never knew a day of scarcity. After the fall, however, their experience was quite different, as is ours today. Our default experience is no longer abundance but scarcity. Food must be produced by the sweat of our brow, and its existence is never certain. Thus, after the fall we became even more dependent on God for our daily sustenance. We are no longer merely creatures in need of provision; we are sinners in need of the Creator’s mercy…

Bread of Earth, Bread From Heaven: Echoes of Eternity in Jesus’ Petition for Bread

This request also reminds us of our daily need for the Lord Jesus. Moses reminded the Israelites in Deuteronomy 8:3 that the reason God let the Israelites go hungry for a time before providing them with manna was so that they might learn that “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” This passage teaches us that God designed physical needs to point to our deeper spiritual needs. Our need for daily physical sustenance is a faint echo of our daily need of spiritual sustenance and satisfaction from God. This was true for ancient Israel and is true for Christians today. The only way that we will taste the goodness of God’s provision is by living according to what comes from the mouth of God.

This is why Jesus regularly referred to himself as the “bread of life,” the true manna sent from heaven (John 6:35). He is God’s ultimate provision for our spiritual lives. Each day, as we pray for our daily bread, we should be reminded of our daily need for Christ to forgive our sins and empower us for obedience. Each time we pray for daily bread, we should recognize our deeper need for the bread of life–the only one who can truly satisfy.

To read more, purchase your copy of The Prayer that Turns the World Upside Down at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or ChristianBook.com.

Posted at: https://albertmohler.com/2018/11/07/give-us-day-exalting-god-humbling/

Humility is Not an Emotion

Article by: Steve Cornell

Humility is sometimes associated with quiet, less outgoing or passive personalities. But this could be very misleading.

Misunderstanding humility is risky because this quality is essential to one’s relationship with God.

• “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (I Peter 5:5).

Jesus established humility and unconcern for social status not only as the psychological structure of His kingdom but also as a basis for entrance into it. (see: Matthew 18:1-3).

Thinking deeply about humility

• “Humility is not itself an emotion, like joy or gratitude or contrition.”

• “A person could be a wonderful exemplar of humility without ever feeling humble; in fact, one who frequently feels humble is probably not very humble.”

• “But humility is a disposition not to feel the emotions associated with caring a lot about one’s status. It is the ability to have my self-comfort quite apart from any question about my place in the social pecking order (whether the criterion is accomplishments, education, beauty, money, power, fame, or position).”

• “Humility is self-confidence that runs far deeper than the tenuous self-confidence of the person who believes in himself because others look up to him.” 

• “Those who need to excel others to think well of themselves— who seek value at the expense of others —who try to climb to honor by using others — who construct their glory upon the shoulders of weakness found in others— who engage in the ‘dangerous business of building self-assessments on watching to see how they’re doing in comparison with others, — those who live this way are — in some profound sense — actually degrading themselves and, far worse, cutting themselves off from both God and people.”

• “There is something in humility which – strangely enough — exalts the heart, and something in pride which debases it” (Quotes above from: Spiritual Emotions, Robert Roberts).

Who is the greatest in the kingdom?

“…the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me” (Matthew 18:1-4)

Jesus said, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

• Self-humbling is required for kingdom entrance: verse 4 – “Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

• Humble hospitality is a test of the heart: verse 5 – “And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” (Mt. 18:1-5; cf. Lk. 18:9-13).

Posted at: https://thinkpoint.wordpress.com/2013/08/10/humility-is-not-an-emotion/

Humility Before God

Article by Mike Ayers

The first two years of life are all about the struggle of learning to walk and talk. These are the basics at this age. Learning to talk is rather cute and harmless. Learning to walk, on the other hand, can be a bit treacherous. My oldest son cut his eye open doing so. My other son kept a knot in the middle of his head for six weeks during this process.

Despite the danger, we as parents make them do it because we know we have to teach certain things first. There are basic prerequisites to functioning in life and some things come before others. We walk, then we run; we learn the alphabet, then we read; etc.

In the spiritual life, there exists a fundamental prerequisite for relating to God, and if there is any single key condition for authentic holy living it would be the virtue of humility. It is, in fact, a quality from which all other dimensions of life in Christ flow.

Saint Augustine said, “Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist, there cannot be any other virtue.”

Can one receive salvation without humility? No. Can one develop in character, love, be reconciled to others, or worship without humility? No. This is why humility is such a high value in God’s economy.

In 2 Chronicles 7, the Bible describes prayers and worship offered to God at the dedication of the temple upon its completion. In response, God gives commands for relating to Him and provides promises of blessings when those commands are heeded.

Contained in this passage is likely the premiere verse for spiritual revival in all of Scripture.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” - 2 Chronicles 7:14

The very first phrase—that is, the very first condition for God’s response, forgiveness, and healing of His people, is humility. God says that we are to humble ourselves before Him.

As a prerequisite for relating to God, humility is like one of those required classes in college. You know, the ones you don’t choose because they’re not as fun, as easy, or as relevant as the others. If you flunk this kind of class, you have to take it again. We who have lived long enough in Christ know that we don’t really have a choice when it comes to humility. It is required by God. So, we can humble ourselves: we willingly posture ourselves before God without pretention or pride. Or, we can do it the hard way—experience pain in our lives as a result of pride that eventually leads to humiliation. In other words, we can be humble, or be humbled. In fact, it may be true that one cannot be humble before God until one has been humbled by God. After some of my own experiences of pain resulting from arrogance and independence, I’d like to choose the former.

But what is contained in humility before God? I believe there are three dynamics at work that leads a person to humble themselves.

The first is PERSPECTIVE. Humility flows from a perspective that I have about God, and then about myself in relationship to Him.

Let’s look at Isaiah’s experience:

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.” - Isaiah 6:1-4

Wow! Isaiah had a vision of God where He clearly came to grips with the majesty, holiness, righteousness, and purity of His character. What was Isaiah’s immediate response?

“Then I said, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” - Isaiah 6:5

Do you get a picture of what the Bible is describing? It is a vision of God’s holiness. Holiness includes God’s complete moral purity and perfection, i.e., His righteousness in character. More than that, God’s holiness primarily points to what some theologians have called His infinite “otherness”. To say that God is holy means that He is transcendentally separate and distinct in His purity and goodness from us.

As a result of this vision, Isaiah was “undone” before God. Have you ever been completely undone before God? This word could be translated as “ruined”, or “utterly lost.” His perspective was, “I don’t measure up. I don’t deserve to be in God’s presence, let alone to be a recipient of His grace and mercy. I am unworthy.”

You see, when we have an accurate understanding of who God is, we will then have an accurate understanding of who we are. The result is humility. The perspective is that there is no way we could stand in God’s presence with any sense of right to do so or pride in what we bring. It is a deep understanding that He is God and I am not.

Therefore, when we are allowed to be in His presence (as we are) and be loved by this holy God, this fact produces the second component of humility: gratitude.Because of who He is, in light of who we are, and because we are received by Him, we worship this infinitely other God with hearts full of gratitude and praise!

The Book of Revelation paints the greatest picture of humble gratitude in eternal worship.

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” - Revelation 7:9-12

See the angels around the throne? The multitudes falling on their faces before the God? They are beings who are overwhelmed with the reality: “We are not worthy, yet we are chosen.”

Here’s our human problem. Familiarity breeds ingratitude. What we are used to, we take for granted. Therefore, ongoing spiritual vitality requires constant awakening to what we have in Christ. It means remembering the preciousness of the gift of salvation, the unending presence of the Holy Spirit within, and that fact of our destiny in eternity.

But humility doesn’t end with perspective and gratitude. Most might think it would. If it did, humility might only be a profound thought (perspective) or a fleeting feeling (gratitude). True humility is manifested in one’s life. Upon recognizing God’s holiness, and being grateful for His love and acceptance, the results are an innate desire to do what He wants, to seek His ways, to trust His commands, and to believe that His way is truly best. So thirdly, true humility requires obedience.

In this sense, disobedience to God is not so much rebellion, as much as it is a lack of perspective and gratitude.

As parents, we want our children to obey us, not out of legalistic allegiance, but out of perspective of who we are to them, and out of gratitude for all we have done for them. The same is true for the Father in Heaven.

Perspective, gratitude, and obedience. These are the marks of humility before God.

Billy Graham’s death recently occurred. The week of his death, I read many articles about him and his ministry. Time and again, there was one trait that was expressed about him by countless people who knew Reverend Graham and had worked with him. It was humility.

Come to think of it. Every godly person I have ever known in my life, regardless of their respected positions, great achievements or considerable power they held, were humble people. 

Mike Ayers

Mike Ayers, a Regular Contributor to For The Church, is the lead pastor of The Brook Church in Tomball, Texas, the Chair and Professor of Leadership Studies at College of Biblical Studies in Houston, and the author of Power to Lead: Five Essentials for the Practice of Biblical Leadership. He is a husband of 26 years to Tammy, and they have three children: Ryan, Brandon, and Kaley.

Article posted on:  https://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/humility-before-god

36 Purposes of God in Our Suffering

by Paul Tautges

Joni Eareckson Tada has given us many books on the subject of God’s tender care for His children in times of suffering. Joni strikes the chord of authenticity with us so well because suffering is the world she lives in 24/7. My personal favorite is When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty, co-authored with Steve Estes, a pastor in Pennsylvania. The following list of God’s purposes in our suffering is from one of the appendices in that book.

Take some time to meditate on the wisdom of God as He works out His perfect will through our suffering. No wonder James, the brother of our Lord, commanded us to “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials” (James 1:2)!

1. Suffering is used to increase our awareness of the sustaining power of God to whom we owe our sustenance (Ps 68:19).
2. God uses suffering to refine, perfect, strengthen, and keep us from falling (Ps 66:8-9; Heb 2:10).
3. Suffering allows the life of Christ to be manifested in our mortal flesh (2 Cor 4:7-11).
4. Suffering bankrupts us, making us dependent upon God (2 Cor 12:9).
5. Suffering teaches us humility (2 Cor 12:7).
6. Suffering imparts the mind of Christ (Phil 2:1-11).
7. Suffering teaches us that God is more concerned about character than comfort (Rom 5:3-4; Heb 12:10-11).
8. Suffering teaches us that the greatest good of the Christian life is not absence of pain, but Christlikeness (2 Cor 4:8-10; Rom 8:28-29).
9. Suffering can be a chastisement from God for sin and rebellion (Ps 107:17).
10. Obedience and self-control are from suffering (Heb 5:8; Ps 119:67; Rom 5:1-5; James 1:2-8; Phil 3:10).
11. Voluntary suffering is one way to demonstrate the love of God (2 Cor 8:1-2, 9).
12. Suffering is part of the struggle against sin (Heb 12:4-13).
13. Suffering is part of the struggle against evil men (Ps 27:12; 37:14-15).
14. Suffering is part of the struggle for the kingdom of God (2 Thess 1:5).
15. Suffering is part of the struggle for the gospel (2 Tim 2:8-9).
16. Suffering is part of the struggle against injustice (1 Pet 2:19).
17. Suffering is part of the struggle for the name of Christ (Acts 5:41; 1 Pet 4:14).
18. Suffering indicates how the righteous become sharers in Christ’s suffering (2 Cor 1:5; 1 Pet 4:12-13).
19. Endurance of suffering is given as a cause for reward (2 Cor 4:17; 2 Tim 2:12).
20. Suffering forces community and the administration of the gifts for the common good (Phil 4:12-15).
21. Suffering binds Christians together into a common or joint purpose (Rev 1:9).
22. Suffering produces discernment, knowledge, and teaches us God’s statutes (Ps 119:66-67, 71).
23. Through suffering God is able to obtain our broken and contrite spirit which He desires (Ps 51:16-17).
24. Suffering causes us to discipline our minds by making us focus our hope on the grace to be revealed at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Pet 1:6, 13).
25. God uses suffering to humble us so He can exalt us at the proper time (1 Pet 5:6-7).
26. Suffering teaches us to number our days so we can present to God a heart of wisdom (Ps 90:7-12).
27. Suffering is sometimes necessary to win the lost (2 Tim 2:8-10; 4:5-6).
28. Suffering strengthens and allows us to comfort others who are weak (2 Cor 1:3-11).
29. Suffering is small compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ (Phil 3:8).
30. God desires truth in our innermost being and one way He does it is through suffering (Ps 51:6; 119:17).
31. The equity for suffering will be found in the next life (Ps 58:10-11).
32. Suffering is always coupled with a greater source of grace (2 Tim 1:7-8; 4:16-18).
33. Suffering teaches us to give thanks in times of sorrow (1 Thess 5:17; 2 Cor 1:11).
34. Suffering increases faith (Jer 29:11).
35. Suffering allows God to manifest His care (Ps 56:8).
36. Suffering stretches our hope (Job 13:14-15).

Out of His deep love for us, God is more interested in making His children like Christ than He is in making us comfortable. The glory He receives from redeeming depraved sinners like us and remaking us into His image will be the song that fills the halls of heaven for all eternity (Rev 5:9-10). Since that will be the case in the future, let us pursue joy in the Lord here in the present.

[The above list makes a great personal Bible study or the basis for small group discussion.]

Do Not Consume One Another

Article by Howard Eyrich

Galatians 5:15 "Do not consume one another".

The same Scriptures that provide us with the positive protocols about which we have written also delineates five practices that we should avoid in order to glorify God in our marriages and enhance a joyful relationship.

In this essay we will consider the protocol found in Galatians 5:15. It says this: “Do not consume one another.”  Let me suggest six ways that couples typical say or do that contributes to consuming one another. The first one is angry outbursts. Angry outbursts have a deleterious impact in several ways. They provoke anger in your mate. The anger may be a defensive anger, an anger of disgust or a retaliatory anger.  For example, Jim and Sally sat in the counselor’s office attempting to provide their counselor an understanding of how their marriage demise had spiraled. As Jim was reporting an incident for the sake of illustration, Sally responded with defensive anger. Immediately Jim shut down and withdrew.  Angry outbursts diminish affection, cooperation and hope that things can ever change.

A second way we consume one another is by an attitude of demandingness. Demandingness is often the outgrowth of unmet expectations. It is not unusual to hear in the counseling office an accusation that sounds something like this. “You are supposed to be the provider for this family (which often means I expect you to enable us to live at the level of our peers) and I am not to put up with your feeble attempts.” Or, a husband may say, “I thought when I married you that you were supposed to be available for my sexual needs. I did not see where the Bible limits that to once a week and if we are going to make it you will have to get with the program.” Now these illustrations may be simplified and overstated, but they are examples (and will be heard at times in counseling).

A third way of consuming one another is by sheer selfishness. Yes, demandingness is a form of selfishness, but this is more pervasive. What is in view here is a self-centeredness that touches all of life. Sometimes this is a malady of which the individual is totally unaware. For example, a person who was raised with the proverbial “silver spoon” in the mouth may well develop a self-centeredness that not only impacts the mate directly, but also impacts every other relationship. This person’s mate finds him/herself energy drained in attempts to manage the collateral damage with the children, the Sunday School class and even with his/her friends. The mate is consumed in the process.

Yet another practice that is consuming is sulking. The mate of a sulker finds him/herself consumed with the task of figuring out what is generating the displeasure of the mate this time. Often these attempts elicit some the anger response discussed above further exasperating the consuming of the mate.

No one appreciates being manipulated. But when manipulation is characteristic of a mate, it becomes consuming. If this trait is a character trait, it will often go unnoticed in courtship, but once engaged in living intimately it will surface. I once had a young couple in counseling where this is exactly what happened. The wife said, “If I had caught on to this when we were dating I would have broken the relationship. It takes all my effort to be alert to your tricks.

Lastly, we can consume one another by distrusting. In a relationship in which trust is absent, mates find themselves consumed with being self-protective. If I am not trustworthy, my mate is consumed by me. Her/his conscious energy is poured into the action of discernment.

So, when Paul writes, “Do not consume one another”, we once again have instruction from the hand of God as to how to live within the church and especially within the marriage in a manner that contributes to our happiness as an outgrowth of glorifying God.

Why Humility is Doubly Important in Marriage

BY BRAD HAMBRICK 

James 4:6
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Most people who are married have turned to their spouse and said, “You don’t act this way around anyone else” or “You don’t treat anyone else this way.”  Occasionally it is meant as a compliment, but more often than not these statements are meant to infer, “I am getting a raw deal.”  There are many explanations for this phenomenon, but in this post we will examine one explanation with two faces—the absence of humility.

Face One: Refusal to Live in My Weaknesses

Have you noticed that we spend the majority of our day operating in areas of specialized training, well-practiced skills, and personal interests?  Then we come home.  When we get home we are asked to do a wide variety of tasks, many of which we have no particular passion for or interest in.  It is these tasks that we do to love and serve those we know best, while those we are least committed to get our fine tuned excellence.

The response we too often give is to draw back from, neglect, or grumble about these tasks that are not our strength.  We may call it insecurity, but it is more often a form of pride.  “If I cannot do it with excellence and receive affirmation, then I will not do it at all or with much effort,” is our logic.  “I get to operate in my strength all day long and know how to succeed in that world.  If I am not sure that I will be a success, then I will not try.”

It takes great humility and the heart of a servant to live in the area of my weakness for the love and welfare of another.  When we are willing to live in our weakness for the benefit of others, God rewards this humility with more grace.  This grace is realized when we resist the pride (“I should be good at whatever I do”) and take joy in imperfect (yet growing) service.

Face Two: Refusal to Accept My Spouse’s Weaknesses

There is humility in action.  Then there is humility in expectation and evaluation.  We move from the paralysis of fear rooted in an expectation of personal excellence to the mantra, “Haven’t I already told you that” or “How many times have you done that and still not gotten it right?”

The pride has mutated.  The pride now says, “I would have been able to do that, so you should be able to do that.”  Whereas before pride was holding me up to a level of elevated expectation, now pride raises my ability or expectation as the standard for you to meet.  In both cases, the absent effort or harsh tone is rooted in “I should” or “I could” (pride).

Patience is rooted in humility.  Patience accepts that imperfection, error, inefficiency, and incompleteness are not beneath me.  That is humility.  When we extend this form of humility to our spouse (and children) we are incarnating the grace of God.  God rewards this dispositional obedience (yes, obedience to God can be as much attitude as activity) with more grace.

When we put these two faces of humility into practice we experience a home where the atmosphere is marked by the grace of God and we experience the redemptive joy God intended in a Christian marriage and family.

Originally posted on Brad Hambrick's website:   http://bradhambrick.com/why-humility-is-doubly-important-in-marriage-2/