Now I eat humble pie ...

Once I was the King of Spain as Moxy Fruvous once said, well, actually I was the king of Arrogant Island, but know I definitely eat humble pie.  It was my arrogance and my ego that was one of the most defining characteristics about the person I used to be.  I thought I could never be beaten, that nothing can defeat me, and I could overcome any obstacle or challenge in my way. It was all me, I was great.  Well, that changed, suddenly, when my world came crashing down around me and I fell to my knees crying out for help, I realized I could not overcome anything, I realized there was someone stronger, and powerful than me, God.  I remember, when it all went down, and I was crying to my pastor, totally broken, he looked at me and said, "For the first time in you life, you have been humbled" Those words resonated with me, and since then, EVERYTIME I take time to read my bible and spend time with God, I keep being reminded to stay humble.  Humility is an important aspect of Christianity that I think gets overlooked by many Christians.  If we are humble in our faith, humble in our lives how then can we judge someone else? How can we think we are better than someone else? This is a thing we are very guilty of, it is so sad to see and hear my Christian brothers and sisters, pointing fingers and calling people sinners or not good enough.  That is not who we are, that is not who Jesus was when He was on earth, nor who is everyday.  We, are humble servants of the Good Lord, Almighty, we should exalt Him, not ourselves, sing His praises, not our own.

"For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”" Luke 14:11 (NLT)

 
These were Jesus's own words. Humility is important.   Jesus, who had no reason to be, was the most humble of all people, in fact, He was so humble, He washed the feet of His disciples:

Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. ⁴ So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, ⁵ and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. John 13:3-5 (NLT)

That is so powerful to me, that is just ... wow.  The Father had given him authority over everything and that He came from God and would return to God, so He washed the disciples feet! Praise God, He gives us the example of how to be humble, by being humble Himself.  How great is our God? He gives us the example of what we are supposed to do.  Yet, we chose not to follow that example, we chose to exalt ourselves, speak about how great we are and pass judgement on others, force them to live up to the standards we impose on them. Convincing ourselves that we are the judge and jury because we set such a high standard in out lives. It funny because the warning is laid out in Proverbs, if you take the time to see it.

"Too much talk leads to sin.
    Be sensible and keep your mouth shut."  Proverbs 10:19 (NLT)

I know I could probably keep my mouth shut more.  It seems the more I talk or brag the harder I almost inevitably fall. It funny that we seem to look at ourselves as perfect, and the best Christian ever, but the minute we point the finger at someone for doing something "wrong" we have lost all footing.  Bragging about ourselves and making ourselves seem righteous is not Christian living at all.

In fact, in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul began by saying:

"Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ" Ephesians 3:8 (NLT)

This is the guy that wrote MOST of the New Testament and he is calling himself the least of all of God's people, then who am I to say I am anything more?  He goes on in Romans to plead with us Christians:

"Because of the privilege and authority^[a] God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us" Romans 12:3 (NLT)

Honest evaluation is something that I know I would probably shy away from, I want to think I am always righteous, I am always walking to right path, but I do stray, I take my eyes off what I should be looking at, my thoughts aren't always on things that are good, and righteous and worthy of praise. I have been known to cuss out a driver who is driving too slow, or who cuts me off.  Truthfully a whole lot worse too.  It is in accepting our faults, our failures that we start to be humble.  It is when we realize that it is not me that is doing things but the grace and blessing of God that has given me the strength to succeed, that we become humble.  Once we become humble and realize how much we rely on God, how much He does for us and how everything good in out lives are blessing from Him the more He will do.  The more He can come into our lives and be the wind inside our sails. Jesus said it Himself

"God blesses those who are humble,    for they will inherit the whole earth." Matthew 5:5 (NLT)

  

The warnings about being full our ourselves are all over, our most important job on this planet is to love each other, pride is not a loving action, being a bragger is not an action of love. So, again, because all the our life lessons seem hidden (well not so much) in Proverbs, this seems like the perfect way to close my thoughts

"Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honour" Proverbs 29:23 (NLT)

I know I want honour, especially honour from God!  I think humility was the greatest lesson that I learned when I was forced from my throne as king of arrogant island, and I am so glad that I was dethroned!

PRAISE GOD!!