"4 Humility and the fear of the LORD
bring wealth and honor and life."
bring wealth and honor and life."
As I was reading Proverbs 22, the 4th verse immediately spoke to me. It reminded me that sometimes God’s strategy tends to be the polar opposite of humanity’s.
Societal Recipe for Success
We live in a world in which the popular recipe for success is…
1 Cup of Self-Centered Behavior
1.5 Heaps of Self Promotion
2 Tablespoons of Impatience
And a Dash of Unmerited Boldness
God's Strategy for Success
However in the 4th verse of Proverbs 22 we hear God asserting a different strategy for success… Humility.
“Humility…” Not a popular word in a culture obsessed with being number one. You can find countless books devoted to the subject of “Becoming Successful” but finding a book on “Being Humble” is a bit tougher! Yet, God says that humility (defined as having a “modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance”) is a crucial element in achieving an abundant life.
Why? I’d bet it’s because humbling ourselves allows us to live out the second part of verse 4 which is “fear (or a reverential respect) for the Lord and His Word.” (See John 14:23)
Humility Required
God essentially desires us to accomplish two goals and guess what they both require? HUMILITY
God instructs us to…
-Honor, Obey, and Respect God and His word (Humility Required)
-And to Unselfishly Interact and Care for One Another (Humility Required)
(See Matthew 22:36-40 and Matthew 5:17-20)
-Honor, Obey, and Respect God and His word (Humility Required)
-And to Unselfishly Interact and Care for One Another (Humility Required)
(See Matthew 22:36-40 and Matthew 5:17-20)
Put Humility to the Test
Casually read the 10 Commandments and you will see that each and every commandment requires us to do one thing and that’s to humble ourselves so we can unselfishly consider others and ultimately obey the Lord.
(See Exodus 20:1-21)
Want to Give God a Gift?
Humility is an act of faith. It’s our gift... It's our sacrifice to God. Our humility says to God, “I am going to focus on obeying you and trust you to take care of me.” (See Hebrews 11:6 and Matthew 6:25-34)
The best part about humility is that Jesus declared in Matthew 23:12, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Jesus can take you higher than you ever imagined!
(See Ephesians 3:20)
Today I Will Energetically Humble Myself to God’s Guidance!
Very nicely said! The way of the Lord is the only way. I'm so glad we serve a forgiving God who allows us to humble ourselves and be forgiven even when we don't follow his guidance like we should. Everyday is another chance to grow our relationship with God.
ReplyDeleteTHIS IS SO RICH. ONE THING FOR SURE IS GOD KNEW ROTE WOULD WORK. HE SO TENDERLY ENCOURAGES US TO CHOOSE THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND TO BE HUMBLE IN DOING SO.
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