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| “Humble yourselves before the Lord…” |
| —James 4:10a |
We live in a very self-aggrandizing world. All day long we are bombarded by the opinions of “experts” who often do their best to prove how smart they are, how much knowledge they have accrued, and how their opinion trumps all others.
In such a social climate, it’s easy to fall into a trap whereby we do and say things to prove how important we are. Even non-verbal people often sit on the sidelines, smugly convinced that they are really the ones—the only ones—who know the truth.
In my insecurity, over the years, I have found myself falling into a dangerous trap. Far too often, I say things that intend to convince people how smart I am and what great insight I have. This tactic never works. In fact, it tends to turn people against me. As I have gotten older, I have come to realize what a foolish waste of time this is on my part.
Even in writing blog posts like this one, instead of lovingly and humbly trying to share what I believe God has laid on my heart, more often than not, I have come across as too strident, too self-assured, too arrogant, or too pompous. This is not the way of the Lord.
The Apostle James offers this keen advice in James 4:10:
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
This day can become a new beginning. In this world where a haughty self-assurance and a know-it-all attitude seems to rule the day, we “Christ’s-ones” can humble ourselves before the Lord. We can know for certain that whatever talents we possess, whatever gifts we may have, whatever knowledge we may have acquired has actually come to us as precious gifts from God. In sincere humility, we can learn to share the talents and knowledge that God has given us with respectful humility.
Even though we have the privilege of adoption by the King of All Creation, we can share our knowledge of Him and His ways in a loving and careful manner. By so doing, we allow the love He has given us to shine through and touch the lives of others in a positive way.
Let us examine our own hearts to see if we have become too focused on convincing others how much more we know than they do. If we find that we have become guilty of this offense, let us humble ourselves before the Lord. Then, let us put that humility to good use in sharing God's love with those we meet.
Based on a blog originally posted on Monday, November 23, 2015
