“Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves . . . You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to."
Philippians 2:3, 5-6 (NLT) The ability to be humble is a relationship builder. What is humility? It’s when you honor others above yourself, not always demanding or clinging to your rights. Pride, on the other hand, destroys relationships—and it shows up in a lot of different ways. It can make you critical, judgmental, competitive, stubborn, and unforgiving. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride leads to destruction; a proud attitude brings ruin” (NCV). Pride is also self-deceiving. When you have a problem with pride, you struggle to see it in your life. But everyone else can see it in you! What does pride look like in a relationship? One, you always offer advice but never ask for it. Two, you can’t admit when you’ve had a tough week. Everybody else is saying, “Yeah, this last week was tough.” But you can’t seem to admit you have any problems. But how does humility play out in a relationship? Notice the five relationship builders in 1 Peter 3:8: “Live in harmony, be sympathetic, love each other, have compassion, and be humble” (GW). The first four are really built on the fifth one: Be humble. And it’s an excellent model for relationships. How does humility happen in your life? It happens by letting Jesus control your thoughts, heart, attitudes, and reactions. Growing in humility has to include Jesus. The basic law of relationships is this: You tend to become like the people you spend time with. If you spend time with grumpy people, you get grumpier. If you spend time with happy people, you get happier. If you want to have more humility, spend time with Jesus Christ in prayer and reading his Word. Just talk to him. He is humble and wants a relationship with you. Growing in humility may seem like a tall order, but it’s possible with Jesus. Take the first step toward humility and become a relationship builder today.
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“At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: ‘O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike’” (Matthew 11:25 NLT).
Jesus wants us to be like little children because we need to remain teachable so we can mature and understand God’s plans. Children are eager to learn. They’re not defensive. They don’t say, “I don’t need to learn to walk. I don’t need to learn to talk. You can’t teach me anything about reading.” They know that they don’t know it all, and they’re eager to learn. That’s how Jesus wants you to be: willing to listen, eager to learn, open to suggestions and corrections from others. Teachable people understand that it’s impossible for anyone to know everything about every subject. You don’t have time in life to learn everything from personal experience. It’s wiser to learn from the experience of others. The Bible says in Proverbs 15:12, “Conceited people do not like to be corrected; they never ask for advice from those who are wiser” (GNT). Pride, at its root, is insecurity. Because of pride, people act like they know it all. Does that sound familiar? When you’re afraid to show that you don’t know how to do something or how to answer a question, it may be a signal that you’re not teachable. If you get defensive when someone corrects you, it may be a sign you’re not teachable. You have a choice: Will you be humble and open to learning, or will you live in prideful denial? Will you be teachable or unreachable? God is for you, and he’ll support you as you learn new things. And like a child growing to maturity, you can keep learning—that’s God’s desire for your life. “'God opposes everyone who is proud, but he is kind to everyone who is humble.’ Surrender to God!”(James 4:6-7 CEV).
We often make plans without even consulting God. Then we pray and ask God to bless our plans, even though we didn’t ask him to take part in them. We just assume that our plans are his will. Then, when our plans don’t happen on the timetable we want or they don’t happen at all, we get angry with God. That’s called pride, and God hates pride. There are probably a lot of people you wouldn’t want to oppose, but you really don’t want to be opposed by God. There’s no way you’re going to win that one. When you’re prideful, the Bible says you’re in opposition to God at that very moment. In fact, you’re operating as an enemy of God anytime you get full of pride. That’s how serious it is. So, what does it mean to surrender yourself and your plans to God? Romans 6:13 says, “Give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes” (GNT). Surrendering means saying, “God, I’m going with your plans for my life, not my own. I’ve got plans, I’ve got dreams, I’ve got goals, I’ve got ambitions, but I know that you put me on this earth for a purpose, and I’m going to intentionally choose your plan for my life instead of my own.” Surrendering to God is the best path to success because instead of him becoming part of your plan, he will make you a part of his plan. “Be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves” (Philippians 2:3 NCV).
Pride destroys relationships. It shows up in a lot of different ways, like criticism, competition, stubbornness, and superficiality. The problem with pride is it’s self-deceiving. Everybody else can see it in us but us. When you have a problem with pride, you don’t see it in your life. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride leads to destruction; a proud attitude brings ruin” (NCV). I love this verse in the Message paraphrase: “First pride, then the crash—the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.” Pride destroys relationships, but humility is the antidote to pride. Humility builds relationships. The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:8, “Everyone must live in harmony, be sympathetic, love each other, have compassion, and be humble” (GW). How are you and I going to grow in humility? It happens by letting Jesus Christ begin to control our thoughts and hearts and attitudes and reactions. He’s got to be a part of this. Ephesians 4:23-24 says, “Let the Spirit change your way of thinking and make you into a new person” (CEV). How do you become a new person? How do you start to think in a different way? The basic law of relationships is this: You tend to become like the people you spend time with. If you spend time with grumpy people, you get grumpier. If you spend time with happy people, you get happier. If you want to have more humility, spend time with Jesus Christ. He is humble. He wants a relationship with you. He wants you to spend time with him in prayer and reading his Word and talking to him. He is humble, and as you get to know him, you’ll become more like him. “Be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves . . . You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to” (Philippians 2:3, 5-6 NCV/NLT). No one has done anything more humble than Jesus, coming from heaven to Earth to become a man, live for us, give his life for us, and be resurrected for us. When you spend time with him, it makes you more humble, and that builds your relationships. “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18 ESV).
The sixth biblical step toward restoring a relationship is to cooperate as much as possible. The apostle Paul said, “Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody” (Romans 12:18 GNT). Peace always has a price tag. Sometimes it costs our pride; it often costs our self-centeredness. For the sake of fellowship, do your best to compromise, adjust to others, and show preference to what they need. A paraphrase of Jesus’ seventh beatitude says, “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are and your place in God’s family” (Matthew 5:9 The Message). Peacemaking is not avoiding conflict. Running from a problem, pretending it doesn’t exist, or being afraid to talk about it is actually cowardice. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, was never afraid of conflict. Peacemaking is also not appeasement. Always giving in, acting like a doormat, or allowing others to always run over you is not what Jesus had in mind. He refused to back down on many issues, standing his ground in the face of evil opposition. Peacemaking means cooperating so that you can restore a relationship and honor the other person. Get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls." (James 1:21 NLT)
We've all noticed that the quality of reception on a cell phone varies widely. The same is true with you. You must be positioned correctly in order to hear God speak. Sometimes we never give God a chance to talk to us. We've made up our minds. We want to do what we want to do, not what God wants us to do. Our hearts are hardened, and we're unwilling to listen. When you have a closed mind, of course He's not going to talk to you! But if you really want to hear from God - and what believer doesn't? - you have to understand what is keeping you from hearing from God. There are three mental barriers that keep your mind closed to God's message. 1. Pride. If you think you don't need God in your life and want to handle things yourself, you're probably not listening for God to speak. Pride keeps you from being open to the possibility that God might want to say something to you. 2. Fear. A lot of people can't hear God speak because they're afraid to hear God speak. Maybe you think that hearing God's voice makes you some kind of religious fanatic. 3. Bitterness. When you hold on to hurt, resentment, or a grudge, then you're not going to be able to hear God, because your heart is hardened. It has grown cold and made you defensive, even to God's love. Some of you have been hurt badly, whether it happened this week or years ago, and you're still holding on to it. I want to tell you that you've got to let it go. Not for their sake, but for your sake. The resentment is killing you! Resentment is a self-inflicted wound that allows people from your past to continue to hurt you today. You need to let it go, not because they deserve forgiveness but because you need to get on with your life. You need to get rid of the bitterness, fear, and pride that keep you from hearing God's voice and living out His purpose for your life. James 1:21 says, "Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls." (ESV). "Receive with meekness, or humbly accept," means you let go of your pride and stop trying to figure it out on your own. This is the key to opening your mind and heart so that you can hear from the Lord. |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
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