humble YOURSELF

“Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)  It is one thing to be humbled by life’s situations and circumstances, but it is quite another to pursue a lifestyle of actively humbling yourself.  That takes a significant amount of courage and fortitude.  It is one thing to feel small and forgotten and invisible, but it is another thing altogether to choose to make yourself those things.  Yet that is what Jesus calls us to do. 

In the kingdom of God last is first, low is high, and the least is the greatest.  In the kingdom of God less is more, small is big, and poor is rich.  In the kingdom of God the one who is honored is the one who serves, you save your life by losing it, and you become full by emptying yourself.  All of which involves a conscious decision to move in the opposite direction of the culture around us.  But when we do, it produces some of the very best fruit possible, both within and among us.

Humbling yourself is definitely not for the faint of heart, but for those who truly want to follow Jesus, wherever it may lead.  Knowing that when they do, they become more and more like him.  Which is what this life is about in the first place, right?

Lord Jesus, if we ever hope to become like you, we must consistently choose to humble ourselves.  Give us the grace and the strength and the courage to do so.  Amen.