Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 30: HUMILITY”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.
Today and this weekend is a special celebration for our girls. Our oldest graduates from high school and our younger graduates from 8th grade and is confirmed this weekend. To be blessed with these two girls is a gift for which I cannot thank God enough. Each of them is unique, charting their own course, but yet friends that have grown to love and appreciate each other (although not without a little sister competition along the way).
As they each finish a season of their life, I am confident the Lord will gift them with new relationships, new challenges and new opportunities. Yet, my prayer for them ultimately is that they walk humbly with the Lord, with each other and with the people around them.
The Apostle Paul wrote a word of prayer and encouragement to the Christians in Philippi. It certainly is an appropriate set of verses to reflect on as we mark milestones in faith and life, but also as we go through life. The truth it brings out is leads us to reflect on the blessings we have because of our connection to Christ. The result of our connection to Christ leads us to live in a way that counter to so much of the world, yet brings a blessing to the world.
Philippians 2:1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Did you notice where humility starts? Our connection with Christ, the comfort he brings, and companionship with the Spirit of God. Life has so many distractions. Never let life interfere with your relationship with the Lord – it is the only connection that ultimately matters.
It is also the starting point by which we can truly live with the humility and attitude of Christ. Humility may challenge us, but it brings blessing to us and society around us. Here are five ways:
- Humility seeks to build unity, not break
Learn to listen to others, seek to understand, and find value in others. As far as you can seek unity over division.
2. Humility is confidence without cockiness.
Pride is ugly when it makes you go through life desiring all to center on you. Humility is not being a pushover or weak person. Humility is confidence because of our connection to Christ, but it lets go of the cockiness.
3. Humility is valuing others without losing your
Put others first. We don’t have to self-promote. We can seek to build others up without losing our value and significance. In fact the stronger sense of value and worth we have from the Lord, the better positioned we are to value others.
4. Humility is building others up without tearing yourself down.
Encourage others. Let go of the competition to always be better, but encourage others to be better. Self-deprecation is just another way of drawing attention to yourself (like pride). Build others up as the Lord has built you up.
5. Humility is being Christ to all
Finally we are in the world to be the face of Christ to people. Christ has shown himself to us so we might reflect him to others. Humility is a key characteristic of Christ and Christ through us.
So, if I had one prayer or piece of advice for my girls and the graduates of 2022…Be humble before the Lord and live with humility each and every day. You will be blessed as you do!
Apply: What difference would living with humility make in your world…in the world around us?
Prayer: Lord Jesus thank you for living humility for us. Lead us to always intersect with your humility first and then with your help, live each day with the same attitude and exhibition of humility which you have shown to us. AMEN.
PS: This concludes devotions connected to the BELIEVE series! Thank you for making the journey with me…look forward to more devotional thoughts on other topics moving forward!