Tag: Humble

Devotionals

Are You Teachable?       

Loring Schultz

Read: Psalm 25:1-11 NLT – Psalm 25 – A psalm of David. O LORD, I – Bible Gateway

“He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way.” Psalm 25:9 NLT

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

Are you willing to learn what you haven’t known before? Do you have a desire to experience something new? Is your attitude promising towards gaining knowledge? In other words, are you teachable? For the older folks, the phrase ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ is not true.’ For you younger people, the phrase ‘I know all I need to know’ is not true either. Nobody knows everything, and we are never too old to learn, especially in the things of God.

The common denominator in being teachable for all ages is, ‘are we humble?’ Are we humble enough to admit we are without the resources to teach us all we need to know about living the Christian life? King David knew he needed the Lord to teach  and lead him. He put his trust in God. David acknowledges the sins of his youth asking the Lord to not remember them, but to remember him in His unfailing love and mercy.

David understood he needed a humble attitude before the Lord if he wanted to be taught by Him and learn from Him. He expresses this in verses 9 and 10 in our text, not only for himself but for us today. David writes, “He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. The LORD leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.” (Ps.25:9-10 nlt)

Christians are to be teachable. Christians should desire to be taught by our Lord. Christians need to be walking humbly with God with an aggressive attitude to learn all we are being taught. So again, are you teachable? If not, humble yourself before God and learn from the Great Professor.

Devotionals

Let Go of Your Pride      

Loring Schultz

“Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.” Proverbs 29:23 NLT

“He quickly said to his young armor bearer, ‘Draw your sword and kill me! Don’t let it be said that a woman killed Abimelech!’ So the young man ran him through with his sword, and he died.” Judges 9:54 NLT

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

We have all come across people with excess pride, and not in a good way. There are some people who are just full of themselves. Hopefully your contact with them is limited, especially if you run into that one in the mirror. Make sure that contact is extremely limited. I have written about pride in the past, but there are many tentacles that protrude out of pride as in those flexible unjointed organs extending from certain animals particularly invertebrates. They all serve the purpose of stoking one’s pride, but it’s time to start picking them off.

If we fail to address where a tentacle of pride surfaces and leave it alone, it will become part of our character and be hard to shake off. The longer it is left alone the more we tend to confirm its existence as positive, and it will bring other forms of hidden pride above the surface. A life full of pride undealt with will be carried right through until death.

A case in point, Abimelech, who ruled over Israel for three years after having seventy of his brothers killed, couldn’t die thinking he would be remembered as being kill by a woman. You might say he had a problem with women, but pride played a role. God pronounced judgement on Abimelech for his ungodly actions when he attempted to invade the town of Thebez. A woman drops a millstone on his head and crushed his skull. And in his pride, Abimelech, said in his final breath, “to his young armor bearer, ‘Draw your sword and kill me! Don’t let it be said that a woman killed Abimelech!’” (Jud.9:54 nlt) Against women perhaps, full of pride until the end, definitely! Don’t let pride hang around, let it go.

A Christian Perspective

Pride Leads to Disgrace

Loring Schultz

“Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 11:2 NLT

‘But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say,
‘God opposes the proud but favors the humble.’” James 4:6 NLT

Photo by Joan Kwamboka on Unsplash
 

Pride is a word we hear and come across often today, especially at this time of year. It does have several meanings according to Websters New World Dictionary, ‘pride’ is defined as 1. a)  an unduly high opinion of oneself b) haughtiness, arrogance. 2. dignity and self-respect. 3. satisfaction in something done, owed, etc. 4. a person or thing in which pride is taken. Christians often struggle with pride. For example, is it wrong to be proud of certain accomplishments you have achieved through hard work? Are you wrong to be proud of a son or daughter who has just graduated from high school or college? And what about the successes of those we know who have reached the highest level of their profession, do we refrain from being proud of them?

The Bible has a lot to say about pride, mostly in a negative sense, but not always. Isaiah writes of legitimate pride during Jesus’ reign on earth, “But in that day, the branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious; the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of all who survive in Israel.” (Is.4:2 nlt) But for the most part, Scripture speaks of pride as part of our sinful fallen nature. The apostle John says, “For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.” (1Jn.2:16 nlt) When our accomplishments and achievements are viewed without God in mind as we boast in who we are and what we have done, it is the sin of pride. All sin has its roots in pride. Satan’s fall from grace as Lucifer, son of the morning, was due to his pride. (Is.14:12-15)

So, what are you proud of? Was the Lord’s hand in it? Did you do it for His glory and would He approve of it? Are you proud of someone else’s achievements for the same reasons? Is God glorified by the accomplishments of that individual you are proud of? Having pride in something or somebody must always be filtered through the God of the Bible and His words to us. Let us be obedient to His Word and live humbly before Him realizing ‘pride leads to disgrace.’

Devotionals

My Thorn in the Flesh

Loring Schultz

“……So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.” 2 Corinthians 12:7 NLT

Photo by Andréas BRUN on Unsplash

Trimming rose bushes for an inexperienced gardener may be hazardous to their flesh, I know. My wife is the gardener around our home, but last fall I decided to contribute and cut down the rose bushes. They were cut down extremely low from their present state as they grew wildly blocking my view from our front porch. So, truth be told, I had a hidden agenda. But as experienced gardeners know rose bushes grow back, and with my wife’s guidance as I was trimming last fall, they are now growing rapidly and fuller and it’s only the beginning of May. Looks like I’m in for some more thorns in the flesh this fall.

A thorn in the flesh is not enjoyable, it is painful. It is a nuisance as you do your trimming. They are always in the way. There are many ‘thorns in the flesh’ in life, therefore the saying of ‘dealing with my thorn in the flesh’ is a way to express frustration with annoyances that hinder your ability to accomplish your goals or so you may think. The thorns could be a physical ailment you are dealing with, constant disruptions in your employment or place of business, or even that annoying obnoxious neighbor who knows the right thorny buttons to push. As much as we don’t appreciate the annoyances there may very well be a good reason for them. And they most likely come from a source we think not.

The apostle Paul tells us the story about his thorn in the flesh, not what it is but why he has one. Paul details an amazing experience he had fourteen years earlier, “…. I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell…. even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.” (2Cor.12:4, 7 nlt)

The purpose of Paul’s thorn in the flesh was to keep him humble. The Lord did want a proud apostle boasting in himself, but in the power of the Lord Jesus. So, Paul was made weak to show the power of God through his weakness. (2Cor.12:9-10) This thorn also came from an unlikely source, Satan, but under God’s direction. And even though Paul prayed three times for it to be remove, God allowed it to remain saying to him each time, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” (2Cor.12:9a nlt)

Whatever your thorn in the flesh may be, thank the Lord for it and allow His love guide you through your weakness into His strength and say with the apostle Paul, “…. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2Cor.12:9b nlt)

Read: 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 NLT – Paul’s Vision and His Thorn in the – Bible Gateway

Devotionals

Be a Humble Servant

Loring Schultz

“The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Matthew 23:11-12 NLT

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

Receiving recognition for a job well done is a humbling experience, at least it should be. Serving in the church of God must be a humbling experience, and not an occasion to flaunt the recognition placed on us for our work. We are serving the Lord God of heaven and not ourselves. The church is no place for self-seeking ambition, either in the role of teaching, administration, social activities, financial management, or building and ground maintenance. Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for just that in seeking recognition and being ambitious in their role of sitting in ‘Moses’ seat’ as they referred to their authority.

Jesus was in the habit of constantly rebuking the religious leaders as they confronted Him, but this is by far His harshest criticism of them; it was their hypocrisy that justified the rebuke. Jesus did not condemn their position or teaching within the original intent of Law of God but rebuked them for not practicing what they taught. They were hypocrites. All their work was done to impress people and they flaunted their status to let everyone know they were in charge, they were holy, and they deserved honor. Jesus said, “They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’” (Mt. 23:7nlt) The scribes and Pharisees were starting to claim they were the source of truth and forgetting God.

In speaking to His disciples and the crowd around Him Jesus said, “Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.” (Mt. 23:8nlt) This is an important lesson for the church today to comprehend. Jesus is saying He is the ultimate teacher, and His word is the absolute only authority. Jesus is not condemning positions of leadership or teachers in the church, but of pride and overstepping. We are all equal brothers and sisters in His church and all of us need good solid preaching and teaching of God’s Word. But we must all remember, “The greatest among ‘us’ must be a servant. But those ‘of us’ who exalt ‘ourselves’ will be humbled, and those ‘of us’ who humble ‘ourselves’ will be exalted.” (Mt. 23:11-12nlt)

Read: MATTHEW 23:1-12 NLT – Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders – Bible Gateway