True Humility
The greatest change in our lives as we follow Jesus is in developing true humility. As we give up the issues that consume us and the values the world insists that we live by, we find that the focus of our lives goes from total self-absorption to being God-oriented and other-oriented.
As we follow what God is suggesting to us, we go from
- Being self-centered to God-and-other-centered.
- Assuming that education and the work we do is of supreme importance in this material world to letting God define the purpose of our lives.
- Being angry, fearful, prejudiced and judging of others to loving everyone.
- Unaware of our deeper, truer selves to living in our depths, expressing the truth about ourselves.
- Believing in Jesus Christ to following Jesus, through the suggestions of the Indwellng Holy Spirit, in everything that we do.
Our story is no longer about what we need or want, it is now about two things: 1)how we love God with all of ourselves; and 2)how we can help other people by loving them as they are and helping them as Jesus did. The way that we do that is through our focus on loving God with all of ourselves and loving the people we meet as equal to us and deserving of our help. So, we get to know them, what their lives have been about, the good and bad choices they have made [like everyone else], and we affirm their value in this life.
This is the path of the follower of Jesus: to give up our worldly ways and take on the spreading of love and forgiveness in the world through everything we do. Often, we find, that our purpose comes to us through the resolution of challenges from early in our lives. For me, it was getting over the teachings of the hell-fire-and-damnation church of my childhood. For others, it might be helping others with the same addictions or challenges that we endured, like an AA sponsor helping others in AA to disengage from the hold that alcohol has on them. Or a parent of a disabled child, now an adult, who councils other parents of disabled children in what he or she has learned from the experience. No matter what our challenges were, once we have acknowledged the lessons learned from our difficulties, we are often called to give to others who face similar challenges. And what a blessing that is to both the giver and the receiver!
There is joy in the giving/sharing. There is peace in the resolution of the challenges. There is love galore in accepting the lessons we are to learn in following Jesus. And we have so much more patience in us when we deal with others in the situations that were tough for us. The fruit of the Spirit begin to grow in us as we embrace life’s lessons for us. And then, in true humility, we focus our lives on the others who need us to share what we have learned. For, we are all children of God made in His image, not one of us stands above any other in the kingdom of God.
Questions to ponder over the week: Are you experiencing the humility that comes to a servant of God over time? If not, what would you have to give up in order to focus more on other’s needs. How is God calling you to serve others? Are you responding to His call or ignoring it?
Blessing for the week: May we be the people of God who hear His calls and respond to them. May we live lives of dedication and following Him.
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Two Announcements
- I am giving away a 10-week journaling guide to Jesus’s Two Great Commandments. If you are interested, email me at patsadams@gmail.com and I will send it to you, free of charge.
- My latest books, “Called to Help the Poor and Needy” and “A Study Guide to the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount” are now in bookstores and on line. The first is about the more than 2,000 verses in the Bible which detail God’s instructions for caring for those in need. The second is a journaling/pondering guide to Jesus’s most complete sermon.