Tag: humility

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Unifying The Body Of Christ Through Honor, Humility, and Love (Devotional)

The body of Christ is much bigger than any man made building or denomination. It’s the most unique body of people on the planet. It’s diverse. It’s beautiful. It is a group of people marked by the Holy Spirit where ALL parts are called to have the same honor and function as a cohesive body. We can be sure pride is in our life when we elevate people, look at status, or value one gift over the other. In turn, this breaks down the unity and love in the body of Christ.

Prayer:

Today we invite you in Holy Spirit to examine our hearts. Expose to us any pride, favoritism, religion and tradition that may be hidden. Let us come forth with boldness to recieve the mercy and grace you have for us. We thank you for it. Holy Spirit help us to live a life full of honor. Let us see people the way that you see them and help us to walk in humility and love above all else. We thank you for your help that is available today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Scripture Study:

  • I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. 1 Corinthians 1:10 NLT
  • Who is Apollos, really? Or who is Paul? Aren’t we both just servants through whom you believed our message? Aren’t each of us doing the ministry the Lord has assigned to us? 1 Corinthians 3:5 TPT
  • As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable. And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect, which our respectable parts do not need. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it. 1 Corinthians 12:20‭-‬27 CSB

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Having The Heart of Jesus In A Culture Of Disposal

Disposable.


The paper plates and plastic wear you throw away when you don’t want to do dishes. The one time use razors to shave. The rare but needed toilet paper that was hard to get ahold of just shy of a year ago. Our culture has made a habit of one time uses because it is well, convenient. However, I am sad to say that many of us have felt the weight of disposability when it comes to relationships and even our hearts.


As I was crying out to God yet again after what had seemed to be a relationship that had came and went without a word, I wondered what I was feeling. I had been praying for God to take out people that were not meant to be in my life and send people that were. I knew that this was an answered prayer but there was such a weight on my heart I knew I needed to talk to the Father. Our conversation went something like, “I forgive them Lord. I know I did as you told me to. You’ve searched my heart. But I just feel…I’m not sure how to explain it.”


Then I heard the Holy Spirit whisper that wretched word, disposable.


Quite often in my 28 years of life, I have tried to build relationships. But there comes a point in many of them that when I was no longer useful, I was tossed to the side. I was good until I was no longer useful. It seemed that through the seasons, I was labeled with a lack of durability for the long haul. Because of my previous history of trauma and abuse I lacked on understanding healthy boundaries. Truth be told, boundaries even felt ‘un-Christ like’ at times.


Disposable was slowly becoming my identity as each person came and went. It felt that each time, they took something with them when they left.


When we are built for community, it can be hard for us to understand why the cherished friendships we have cannot come with us in the next season. It can be hard to understand why when you are innocent, and you are made out to be the villain. Relationships can be messy. A wise counselor once told me that relationships are not only a place of hurt, but they are also a place of healing.


I have missed the mark countless of times in relationships and I am so thankful for grace and mercy. However, one reminder has remained the same through each season:


It is important that we value people through the heart of the Father and not our flesh.


Pride can sneak its way in and we slowly begin to have a fogged lens of superiority over one another. This is not the way God wants it to be. After all, it is only through His grace that we have been saved. It is a sheer gift, not something that can be earned or deserved.


If we treat others while remaining in the love of God there is no possible way we could treat them as something that can be used and tossed to the side. Because when we have God’s heart, we know that His Children are worth dying for when they have nothing to offer.


For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. -Romans 5:6-9 CSB


Jesus not only died for us and made us His children, but He encourages us that as we are being sanctified each day, that we are to be made into a vessel of honor for special use. The only way to no longer treat people as disposable and not allow ourselves to be used is through the Spirit of God. When we walk in step with the Holy Spirit, we will remain humble, living a life full of honor, love, and put boundaries in place that not only protect us but the relationships he has given us. We will not always get this right. But what we do after we have missed the mark is imperative.


Will we come boldly before God and expose the times we have had wrong motives? Are we courageous enough to call and ask for forgiveness when we have hurt those around us? And even if they do not forgive us, can we still pray for them with Abba’s heart? When we walk in love, remaining in the Spirit, we cannot help but see the value Jesus has placed not only on us but those that surround us.

Other Scripture To Meditate On:


• If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others. -Philippians 2:1-4 CSB
• Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also those of wood and clay; some for honorable use and some for dishonorable. So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, because you know that they breed quarrels. The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, instructing his opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth. Then they may come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. -2 Timothy 20-26 CSB

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Blind Pride

Contrary to what many believe, Jesus did not come to save the world for those who had it all together. In fact, Jesus walked the earth using ordinary things like dirt and spit to do extraordinary things. Like making a blind man see from a mud pie. Instead of the Pharisee’s being able to celebrate the miracle that just had happened before them, they were blinded by pride. The Pharisee’s interrogated the man who now could see and even his parents! How could Jesus do such a thing like healing a man on the Sabbath!?

This sounds funny and innocent from the pages of John 9 looking in. But, we very well could be the Pharisee’s accusing Jesus of healing the man on the Sabbath and miss the miracle too. Living a life filled with pride can blind us of the extraordinary, what God is doing before us, and who he wants to do it through. We foolishly look inward and compare ourselves to ourselves and miss the grace we desperately need.

But, Why do we do this?

Knowing pride is the root of all sin, how can we get ensnared in it so easily?

There are many ways that people fall into pride. One being the underlying message in society that says we have to have it together. According to the Word of God, we do not have to have it all together. In fact, our weakness is a portal to God’s power. His grace is sufficient in our weaknesses. This frees you and I from needing to look strong on the outside while we are quietly crumbling away on the inside. His grace and mercy that He died to give us is a ticket to humility. We cannot earn it and we do not deserve it.

Jesus can’t save those who do not think they need saving.

Jesus came to save people who were broken in sin. He came to save you and me. Not only did he come to save us, but to help us in our weaknesses. We can end up dipping our toes in the prideful swamp as we take our focus off Christ and the gift of grace. We then turn our attention inward, on self. In our fallen nature, we are selfish and self centered. Walking in our new nature, we are selfless because we are Christ centered. All we are and all we need, He is our source.

Holy Spirit explained pride this way to me, “Thinking you know it all is a sure sign you don’t know much”.

Join me today in asking the Holy Spirit to cleanse us from the inside out. Let us come before the throne of God, ready to admit when we have been wrong or missed the mark. Then we can receive the grace and mercy Jesus died to give us. I invite you to be free the unrealistic standard of having it all together. I loose a great eagerness to be continually taught by the only one who does.

Scripture Focus:

  • Jesus then said, “I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind.” Some Pharisees overheard him and said, “Does that mean you’re calling us blind?” Jesus said, “If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you’re accountable for every fault and failure. -John 9:39-41 MSG
  • Claiming to be wise, they became fools, -Romans 1:22 ESV
  • Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. -Proverbs 16:18 NLT
  • Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. -Hebrews 4:16 NKJV
  • I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,  and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. -1 Timothy 1:12-16 ESV
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We All Fall Short

“Wisdom makes the wise person stronger than ten rulers of a city. There is certainly no one righteous on the earth who does good and never sins. Don’t pay attention to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you, for in your heart you know that many times you yourself have cursed others.” -Ecclesiastes 7:19-20 CSB

This is one of those verses that is JAM packed full of goodness. The whole bible is great, but there are some verses that I feel like you can chew on for a week and get more and more out of. This is one of those meaty kind of verses. I am only going to focus on one angle of this verse and that is that we all fall short. Hence, the title of this post!

Yes, we all fall short.

I think that almost all of us know that we are not perfect and that we all miss the mark. But, there are sometimes where we can get caught up in how far we have come rather than who brought us the growth. On the other end of the spectrum, oftentimes we beat ourselves up so bad for NOT being perfect and falling short. Does either one of these resonate with you? Then keep reading!

There are two points I want to focus on in these verses:

  1. There is certainly NO ONE RIGHTEOUS on earth who does good and NEVER SINS
  2. When you feel like pointing out other people’s flaws, God gently reminds us of the times we have missed the mark.

If you have a relationship with God and Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you are righteous through the spotless blood of the lamb. You are in right standing with God. To think you are never going to slip up and miss the mark or never say a word you shouldn’t have, will quickly bring you to a place of perfectionism and condemnation. Which is not healthy!!! We are all at different places in our walk with God. Be careful not to compare, because comparison is a thief of joy. This verse in Ecclesiastes makes it crystal clear that you can be righteous and still miss the mark. Doesn’t that make you so thankful for God’s grace and mercy!? It is undeserved and unearned. Refuse to live from a place of condemnation and embrace the grace and mercy Jesus died for you to have. Do not get so caught up in what you’ve done wrong that you miss the freedom found through Jesus.

Has there been a time you where you feel like pointing out what others are doing wrong and how they have missed the mark? I think the end of this verse shows the heart of God and gives us a perfect situation to relate to.

We all have a time in our life where we have overheard someone talking bad about us. Ouch, I know it stings. The first thing our flesh wants to do is bring back the old us and show them who is boss and point out what they are doing is wrong. But, God shows us here when we try to point out what other people are doing wrong we are to remember the times we missed the mark. Because remember, NO ONE even if they are in right standing with God is perfect. Yes, we are covered in the blood of Jesus and we are forgiven. But be careful to not get caught up in what you’ve done, when in reality we would be no where without Jesus!

This is what makes God’s love so vast. He loves us despite our actions. He loves us because he is love. He is faithful because he is faithful and true. God does everything out of his abundance and WHO HE IS, rather than his love being based on what we have done or not done. We all fall short, however, God is there to clean up our mess and love us where we are at. We are all growing! Do not be too hard on yourself and do not be too hard on others. We are in this together! Despite if you have done either of these or maybe even both, God’s love for you remains the same. There is a very known verse in the bible that states “Give and it will be given back to you”. This is not only concerning money, but this concerns grace and mercy too! Want peace? Sow peace! Want love? Sow love! We all fall short, but GOD loves us right in the midst of our mess and we are to love other’s and our self with the same heart!

More Reading:

<< Romans 3:13 >> <<John 3:16>> <<Luke 6:38>>