Friday, April 28, 2023
Are you free to be humble?
I grew up playing sports and remember how high the victories were and how low the losses were. I can still feel the physical toll that constantly competing took on me. Competing for time, grades, sports positions, friends, approval, and life in general. It felt like I was always climbing a slippery mountain, and even when I reached the top, my efforts, abilities, and connections were never enough to keep me there. As a parent, I now watch the same roller coaster play out with my kids.
Life is a great training ground to learn humility the hard way. If you don’t humble yourself, there is always someone bigger, faster, or stronger to do it for you. “Acting humble” as the world teaches us and “being free to be humble” are two very different things. What if you could actually enjoy climbing the mountain of life?
1 Peter 5:5-7
5 … “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
When I take God at his word—and lay down my failures and my victories because I know who I belong to—I am genuinely free to humble my heart before God. When the victories and failures no longer have more power over me than my belief that God knew me and loved me from the very beginning of existence, then I am free to be humble. I no longer need to compete for acceptance and glory in the world, because I know where I belong. No success or failure changes my status with the only one whose opinion truly matters.
John 14:27 NIV
“Peace I leave you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
God isn’t like the world. He freely gives and does not take away his love based on our performance. To walk humbly with God means to truly be able to enjoy others' successes even more than your own. There is no longer a reason to hold tightly to the things of this world because the promise is true. You are loved, accepted, and forgiven in Jesus, now and forever.
Questions:
Who in your life is it really hard to give a compliment to or be happy for when they succeed?
Is there anything you are holding onto a little too tightly and the thought of letting it go is very uncomfortable? What is it, and why are you grasping for it?
Next Steps:
Write a handwritten letter of appreciation to someone you are finding it hard to be happy for.
Ask someone to help you with something you feel you are already very good at.
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for your promise of peace when we follow your ways. Life is uncertain, but you are always the same. Help us to trust you with the questions and, in that, find real rest from the world. Amen.