Humility; A Virtue that Sometimes Gets Lost, Even in the Church
When you talk about humility, rarely do you hear of this quality in the secular world of business. As a matter of fact, humility in the business world is looked at as a weakness. There is no place in corporate society for humility.
If you were to ask someone, “What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word ’business’?” Long before humility is ever even considered, you would probably say something like, “Dog eat dog world,” or something to that effect.
What is disappointing is when this same humility-less mentality is found within the walls of the church. Now, I am not naïve; the church is made up of people. Many, if not most of those people, at one time, were living a secular lifestyle, with all the ills of that lifestyle permeating their personalities.
The Bible is clear, that even though we may be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, there is still a process of change that needs to take place within our being. The Bible refers to God as the sculptor, and us as the clay. This change that God is working in us, is a lifetime process. Not because God cannot do it instantly, but because God wants us to work through this process ourselves, by seeing the need to change aspects of our lives, as we realize our spiritual shortcomings, through the example set by Jesus.
This why it is so important to heed Joshua 1:8, which reads, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
I know many Christians who have accepted Jesus as their personal savior, yet I see very little change in the way that many of them conduct their everyday lives. This should not be the case. You might be asking, “I thought you said that God will work the change in us?” I did, and He will, but He also will not force you to change.
The Word of God is powerful; the Bible calls it a two-edged sword. God expects us to utilize it to our benefit; to cut through the darkness and enter His light. I don’t think God would have wasted 5,000 years in the completion of having the Word documented for us, for us to neglect it.
As you read the Word it will transform your mind to think like Jesus, hence, you will begin to become aware of worldly things in your life, that you didn’t think twice about before, that are now convicting you in your heart, and you will want to rid yourself of those worldly things.
That is how God changes you. It is not that God is working every minute manipulating circumstances as you walk into them; it is a principle or a law of creation, that God had established in the creation process, that if you seek God, only good can come out of that. If you seek the worlds way, which is morally corrupt, only bad can come out of it.
Recently, I had the unfortunate first hand experience of how, even in the church, you have to deal with this secular mentality. This particular person, who I had dealt with does not yet see this flaw in their being. There are personality differences, as well, that make it hard for some people to change.
A strong-willed person will find it much harder to soften their hardened heart. There is a much greater warring going on in the spirit and soul of a strong-willed person in regards to this hardness of heart. It is much more difficult for them to humble themselves in a situation that they deem to be a competitive situation; even when such is not the case.
These little things that we all have in our personalities, are the things that need to be changed in order to grow into the perfection of Christ. We all need to realize these areas that need to change. It is only through God’s Word that He can effectively communicate to us the way that He wants us to live our lives, and interact with our fellow man.
If you were to ask someone, “What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word ’business’?” Long before humility is ever even considered, you would probably say something like, “Dog eat dog world,” or something to that effect.
What is disappointing is when this same humility-less mentality is found within the walls of the church. Now, I am not naïve; the church is made up of people. Many, if not most of those people, at one time, were living a secular lifestyle, with all the ills of that lifestyle permeating their personalities.
The Bible is clear, that even though we may be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, there is still a process of change that needs to take place within our being. The Bible refers to God as the sculptor, and us as the clay. This change that God is working in us, is a lifetime process. Not because God cannot do it instantly, but because God wants us to work through this process ourselves, by seeing the need to change aspects of our lives, as we realize our spiritual shortcomings, through the example set by Jesus.
This why it is so important to heed Joshua 1:8, which reads, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
I know many Christians who have accepted Jesus as their personal savior, yet I see very little change in the way that many of them conduct their everyday lives. This should not be the case. You might be asking, “I thought you said that God will work the change in us?” I did, and He will, but He also will not force you to change.
The Word of God is powerful; the Bible calls it a two-edged sword. God expects us to utilize it to our benefit; to cut through the darkness and enter His light. I don’t think God would have wasted 5,000 years in the completion of having the Word documented for us, for us to neglect it.
As you read the Word it will transform your mind to think like Jesus, hence, you will begin to become aware of worldly things in your life, that you didn’t think twice about before, that are now convicting you in your heart, and you will want to rid yourself of those worldly things.
That is how God changes you. It is not that God is working every minute manipulating circumstances as you walk into them; it is a principle or a law of creation, that God had established in the creation process, that if you seek God, only good can come out of that. If you seek the worlds way, which is morally corrupt, only bad can come out of it.
Recently, I had the unfortunate first hand experience of how, even in the church, you have to deal with this secular mentality. This particular person, who I had dealt with does not yet see this flaw in their being. There are personality differences, as well, that make it hard for some people to change.
A strong-willed person will find it much harder to soften their hardened heart. There is a much greater warring going on in the spirit and soul of a strong-willed person in regards to this hardness of heart. It is much more difficult for them to humble themselves in a situation that they deem to be a competitive situation; even when such is not the case.
These little things that we all have in our personalities, are the things that need to be changed in order to grow into the perfection of Christ. We all need to realize these areas that need to change. It is only through God’s Word that He can effectively communicate to us the way that He wants us to live our lives, and interact with our fellow man.
posted by pbt777 at
3:48 PM
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