Haughty versus humble

“I KNOW I am right. I am so right and your are so wrong. I am so right that it makes me angry at you for how wrong you are. I want to force you to admit that I am right. I want to do this by angrily shoving my opinion down your throat, making you feel stupid, scaring you, saying mean things to and about you, and trying to make you feel less of a person because you dont see how right I am!!!”

Versus

“I hear your concerns. I have concerns, too. I dont have the answers. What seems right to me doesnt seem right to you. There is only one thing I know is true and that is God is for us and He is good and we can both pray to Him. He has the answers. Not all of our decisions we need to make can be found in the Bible but what can be found is how to treat others. I want you to see the love of Christ in me instead of anger that we dont agree. I am going to choose to love you while we all navigate through this even if you dont choose to love me back.”

From I ain’t to I am

So, when I was younger I was picked on a little bit. When we moved to a different town then I decided I would not be the one that got picked on. I have worked hard on this through the years. In fact, my motto has been “I aint the one!” for a good part of my life. To one extent it is good not to let yourself continually be walked on or abused. I will always beleive you need to know when to set boundaries and to even know how to defend yourself physically. But when I tell you “I aint the one”, I took it to the extreme. You wanna get an attitude with me? No, honey, I aint the one. And I would bite back and make it my mission that you never got that attitude with me again. In fact, you probably never even wanted to talk to me again. Well, of course, God went to work on me. He has been telling me “yes, you are the one.” He tells me “you are the one I put in their path. You are the one that asked for widsom and compassion and now here is your chance. Take that attitude and come back with love.” I cant imagine someone letting me have it and I geniually feel concern over what is causing them the anger instead of allowing it to make me angry. I know I am on my way to getting there. I know my responses will become lighter and more gentle. I know the love of Christ will shine through me. God has started this work in me and He will not stop until it is completed. I wont lie. Im scared to love yall like that. Odds are my feelings will get hurt. My pride will take a beating. You may see me as weak and I have worked many years to not come across that way. This will, indeed, humble me and that is exactly what needs to happen. My goal is no longer to prove how tough I am but to show the love of Christ in all I do as best I can. Because, just maybe, if you see that in me then you’ll want it as well. To His call for this change, I accept. “I am the one, Lord. Send me.”

Philippians 1:6
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Be humble. Be kind.

Humility. Be humble. Be kind. God does not call us to be prideful. He does not call one to be more than the other. He calls us to be humble and serve one another. Oh, the problems we could avoid if we would all just be humble and serve. God sent His son not as a king riding in on a stallion. Although, that’s what He deserved. He sent His son to this world as a baby that grew to a man riding a donkey. This Man saved our souls in the worst way possible and He rode in on a donkey. He served His people. He washed the feet of His disciples although it was close to the hour of His tortured death. He lived. He died. He lived again. All the while humble. Kind. And not a pride filled bone in His body. Jesus was here not just to save our souls but to give us a living, breathing example of how we are to carry out the words of His Father. So, before we make our next social media post ask yourself….am I humble? Am I kind? Does this show love for my neighbor? Or is this feeding my pride? Is this trying to make a point that I am right and you are wrong? You want to be a part of the change? Make the decision today to walk with Jesus. Live like Jesus. Let Him change YOU. Jesus is right. His way is right. Amen.