Humble Ourselves

Luke 18:9-14

1.     What is Jesus teaching us about the condition of our heart in relation to our actions?

We cannot do good works to earn our place in heaven nor to rise above others on earth. If we are doing good works to earn our place in the lifeboat, we have it all wrong. We must humble ourselves and accept that nothing we could ever do could possibly earn us our way to heaven. And it doesn’t matter how many good things we do, if our heart is in the wrong place, we are not sufficiently good enough to earn the lifeboat either. No one likes a brilliant know-it-all. People love a brilliant servant like Joseph in Egypt. Do what is right and keep it in secret. God will know. God is the only one who matters.

2.    What does genuine and authentic humility look like?

Genuine humility is accepting both our strengths and our weaknesses as God-given (God-withheld?). We did not earn our good looks. We may do a good job of taking care of and advancing the looks and talents God has given us, but God also put in us the desire to so. The best example of true humility would be to accept a compliment simply and direct the person to where it truly came from – Our Father in Heaven. “Wow! That’s amazing!” “Thank you. It is my gift from God to you.”

What does false humility look like and how can you tell the difference?

When you give someone a compliment and they take it as an opportunity to go on and on and on about themselves. You usually end up with a whole new story apart from where you originally started and you know way more about the person’s talents and gifts than you would have liked. You probably feel uncomfortable and probably will refrain from complimenting this person in the future, let alone engaging them in conversation.

OR, what if I had put it this way …

When you give me a compliment and I spend the next few minutes making you uncomfortable by telling you all the reasons why I don’t deserve the compliment. And then you feel like you have to reinforce the compliment. Which makes me get more and better compliments. Which I want. But certainly wouldn’t ask for. And will continue to deflect. All the time secreting them away in my pocket for future use to build myself up at later date OR use by telling someone else how much you admire me. LOL!

3.    Read the Bonhoeffer quote. Tell about a time you should have held your tongue, but failed to. What were some of the repercussions?

You know, we all think we have unique thoughts. We have inspirations that we believe no one else is privy to. Very rarely, this might actually be true of someone. Even so, that someone’s thoughts or ideas are built upon those of another and ages of countless others.

I was given the opportunity to express my thoughts on a certain subject and once I got started, well, I rolled with it. Whether it was good or bad or irrelevant, I said it. At first I was well received, but soon I was met with silence. So I stopped talking. I still don’t know if anything ever came of that. I poured my heart out. I ended up hurt and vulnerable and full of rage. I’m not sure where it left the other parties.

Tell about a time you did hold your tongue and had the wisdom and self-control to be silent. What did God accomplish through your silence?

I held my tongue from then on. What I discovered was that there were some people who saw things entirely different from me. I still don’t understand how we could be so far apart while sitting at the same table and hearing the same words and seeing the same actions.

But I also found out that were plenty of people just like me. They thought the same thoughts. They had the same worries. They shared the same misgivings and heartaches. They just chose not to say anything.

The most refreshing part I found was that the second set of people were glad that I had spoken my mind. I had been speaking on their behalf. And I hadn’t realized it. I felt I had spoken Truth, but Truth shouldn’t be met with such obstacles. I had stopped speaking because I had stopped believing in myself …

End result? I don’t talk as much, but when I feel it is necessary for the well-being of another (others) I take a chance and say something.

In the end, we are not all unique in our thoughts. There is always someone else that thinks like we do. We are all just gifted in different ways. Perhaps I am to speak … Morning conundrum.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6 (ESV)