“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less." (C. S. Lewis)
There are no easy steps to humility, but here are ten hard ones—
- Respect God. Observe the canopy of constellations He whispered into being and ask yourself, “Who am I that God should care about me?”
- Submit to God’s sovereignty. Life built without God is a sand-castle that washes away in the overpowering tide of circumstances. One infinitely greater than you existed eons before your birth. Remember God is God and you are not.
- Practice downward mobility. You have a choice to make in life—humiliation or humility. Haughtiness invariably bursts your balloon. Meekness under the authority of Earth’s CEO trains you to reign with Him.
- Relax in God’s Presence. Do not feel totally, eternally, irrevocably responsible for everything—that’s God’s job, a position far beyond your pay grade.
- Conduct a realistic assessment of your gifts. Whatever skills and talents you have are blessings from heaven. So you should not get struck on yourself.
- Exercise self-discipline. To prevent doing something you would regret for years, you need to control your impulses and thoughts. You must crucify your ego if Christ’s holy nature is to shape your life.
- Take advice. Listen to the quiet voice of timeless wisdom. Pride breeds arguments; people open to counsel calm storms of stress.
- Do not project your character flaws on others. When you arrogantly judge, you are reflexively critical. When inspecting people use a mirror, not a microscope.
- Watch your motives. Treat others with as much kindness and respect as you do yourself—then your service to God will be acceptable.
- Imitate Christ’s example. Relinquish personal rights, and you will have Christ’s attitude. He is gentle with you, so you should be gentle with others.
Taking these steps may prove difficult; but if you climb this heavenly-designed staircase, you will get nearer God’s heart and experience quiet joy too wonderful for words.
“He that is down, needs fear no fall; He that is low, no pride; He that is humble ever shall have God to be his guide.” (John Bunyan)
W
Johnny R. Almond
Interim Pastor, Hull’s Memorial Baptist Church; Fredericksburg, Virginia
Blog http://GentleWhispersFromEternity-ScripturePersonalized.com/
This devotion based on Day 82 of Gentle Whispers from Eternity
