be humbled.
“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 (NKJV).
Jesus came to this world humble and a servant. He came to do
the will of His Father, our Father. Our view of ourselves can become bloated
and elevated by our accomplishments, by our successes, by our talents and
especially by the way others lift us up and validate us. Many of us demand that
validation regularly and it is the cause of much sorrow in our lives. We desire
to be made to feel important and needed and of value to those around us. We
want to be recognized and we want to be loved and adored. We thrive on our
pride.
So, what does it mean to become humble of spirit? What is it
that we need to do within ourselves to alter our outlook on ourselves and our
feelings on what will satisfy our souls? We need to recognize that life is
fleeting. The very breaths in our bodies are numbered and we are not in control
of their limit. If we put such store in ourselves and not in our Lord, we will
not be capable of allowing ourselves to be humbled.
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord’
Nor detest His correction;
For whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights.” Proverbs 3:11-12 (NKJV).
We all need to be corrected in our ways. We all have the
natural instinct to be proud. We must come to want that correction in all of
our ways and the place to start is with our humility. It is for us to learn
that we are in need of a Savior and His name is Jesus Christ. When we
acknowledge that we are sinners and our ways are naturally perverse, we come to
WANT Jesus to be our Lord. We have to learn to want to be humble and receive
the rewards. We have to want to change our hearts and souls.
We have to want to
serve in response to our salvation. We have to want to rid ourselves of our
pride, vanity, and selfish ways. They are there, to deny that is to lie and
deceive ourselves. But they can and will be cleansed from us if we learn to
want that above all else. That is what it is when you seek the kingdom of God
above all.
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18 (NKJV).
