Mark Affleck

I Took the HUMILITY TEST and FAILED Miserably

November 17, 2021
Spiritual Growth

If someone tested my HUMILITY early in my faith walk, they would have scored it “FAILED.” I wanted to be a humble person, but the only guide I had was to be “nice.” My grade today would be “work-in-progress.” How did God turn my life around when it comes to humility? PRAYER.
  
PRAYER helps us grow in humility before God and keeps us away from the HUMILITY KILLER—thinking we can be humble under our own power.
  
God’s Word tells us that Christ-like humility is never MANUFACTURED by us and always RECEIVED from God. It is not something we reach on our own initiative. It is something we allow into our soul. We get that done through prayer.
  
Christ-like humility is our RESPONSE to God’s presence and power in our life.
  
Our role as followers of Christ is to surrender, obey, and grow spiritually. That will build a spirit of humility and arm us with the humility of Christ when challenges ping off our life.
  
Followers of Christ cannot create humility on their own. They humble themselves to God and his Word to generate genuine, Christ-like humility.
  
Christian HUMILITY does not promote self-hate or self-loathing. Self-hatred is a sin.
  
So many Christians have amputated their true self in search of making sure they don’t come off too confident. But there is nothing humble about hiding our talent or hating ourselves.
  
Hiding and hating means that my focus never leaves ME. The bias remains on ME. The elevation of self over others remains in ME.
  
The key is turning our healthy self-image OUTWARD toward others and away from the unhealthy dangers of always looking INWARD toward self.
  
The goal of Christian HUMILITY is not thinking you are less than worthy; it’s thinking about yourself less (Philippians 2:3).
  
Jesus was the poster child for HUMILITY (Philippians 2:8). His sacrifice at the cross put a dagger through our swagger.
  
Our self-loathing produces a loser (US) and a winner (SATAN) because hating ourselves is hating someone God created in his image.
  
Humility is not thinking of yourself more highly than you ought but with sober judgment, according to what God says in his word.
  
I ask God to give me a healthy and balanced sense of who I am and why he put me on earth. To help me be ready to receive his humility and stop me from trying to create it on my own.
  
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
  
Are you hiding your talents or hating yourself to be what you think is humble? How would YOU score on the HUMILITY TEST today? Will you pray today for God’s help in developing humility in you?
  
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” Romans 12:3
  
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Colossians 3:12
  

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