Lessons I learnt on Humility

James 4:6
God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.

I had been meditating on this virtue called “Humility” for some time now. I knew that I’ve been a person who has had constant struggle with walking in humility as I was known (at least at home) to be someone with a high self-esteem, someone who is quick to judge others and someone who would grumble when asked to help with boring chores. I knew I needed help in this area and I looked up the Scriptures on humility and diligently noted them down for some in-depth study. But God knew this weighty matter was not something learned through notes, but through experiences, and was orchestrating some situations that brought out my arrogance and pride.

Here’s a backstory of how God helped me learn some of the most difficult lessons I’ve learnt in life:

  It was a wonderful night, when we engaged in some casual discussions as a family, talking about how God has been faithful in the past and how God can turn around the circumstances that we were going through. The reminiscence of God's marvelous ways and sharing of perspectives and opinions with each other has always reinforced the family bond. At some point during this lovely time, my mom asked me to lookup a word in the dictionary. Not wanting to take my phone, open Dictionary app, type the word and then lookup its meaning, I let out a sigh and said, "Do we need to lookup this word right now?" and added that "it just wasn't worth the time and energy". My mom, who is always brutally honest and unhypocritical, criticized me for acting so selfishly. I started debating that I saw no urgency that warranted the immediate lookup of the word. And then followed a stream of harsh words that I didn't want to hear, explaining how I was behaving like a spoilt child who's too focused on comforts and never thinks about others. To an outside person, I was always behaving well and was helpful, but inside the four walls of my home, there were occasions when the rays of my selfishness and pride had escaped through the crevices (and I was blind to see that!), as I sometimes vent out suppressed stress or feelings of hurt on the very people God had placed in my life to love and cherish. Every such instance was cited and my unpleasant behavior was questioned. Mom went on to emphasize that my writings on “overcoming self” were utterly futile, as I wasn’t putting them into practice. Although I didn't talk back audibly, I was resisting everything that was being said, in my mind. That beautiful family moment halted right there!

  I spent the night in tears, not reflecting on my arrogance and selfishness, but on thoughts that were motivated by self-pity - recalling how I did not deserve the harsh scolding for something as trivial as questioning the urgency of looking up a word in the dictionary. I found myself innocent, and couldn’t see that deep down, I was falling prey to my biggest enemy (pride), which was the first and the worst sin ever committed and was also responsible for the hurling down of Satan from the Heavens in the first place!

And it was the next day and last night's incident was still fresh in my mind, and I didn't want to discuss it with anyone, not even God. Dad called me a couple of times when I was at work, to check on how I was doing and if I felt better. I kept an indifferent attitude and restrained myself to not let out a single word in response to his questions, and bluntly responded with a "hmmm". Being compassionate towards me, he said that he had been praying for me the whole time, that I would perceive the whole episode of last night, as God's chastening. I was being too cold to care about anything he said. He also asked me to pray as God would teach me humility. I resolved that I wasn't going to ask God for help in this matter, thanks to my adamant belief that there was nothing wrong with me. I knew I was hardening my heart in the process, convincing myself that there was nothing to repent of, and was constantly rationalizing my behavior.

Looking back upon all this now, I learnt these important truths:
- Justification and self-righteousness are symptoms of pride.
- My pride can shut out God, even at a time when all I needed was only Him.

I suffered a loss of peace and a loss of focus at work. With no other option, I slowly let go of my pride and began mumbling a few words in prayer, pleading God to help me understand what went wrong and how I should've reacted in the situation where I was being scolded for something that I thought, was not worth being yelled at. After much struggle, I gave the reins of my thoughts to the Holy Spirit, and God began to reveal those subtle hints of pride, in all those instances when I was being nasty and arrogant. These then, are the lessons I’ve learnt:

1. Humility is love in action - thinking of others first

Philippians 2: 3-8
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

   Jesus, who is our ultimate example to live by, was ever ready to reach out and help the needy people; He was available at ALL times to all who sought Him. Although He was the King of kings, He didn't restrict access to Him by asking His disciples to setup appointments when people wanted to meet Him or when they sought His help. If God - the Son, who had the responsibility of the most important mission ever commissioned on earth (saving mankind), was not too busy to stop by and attend to people's needs, no one else has the luxury of blaming "busy-ness" as the reason for not reaching out to people who are in need. At the very core of this servant-like attitude is Love. When you truly love someone, you don't mind what time of day it is, what kind of favor is being asked of you, and you instantly extend your helping hand with a smile on your face. I learnt that pure love is always ready to dive into action to satisfy someone's need (no matter how trivial it might be) without asking questions to validate the urgency of the need.

2. Humility does not seek self-validation

I Peter 2:21-23
For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;

  Jesus, the innocent Lamb, stood in trial before the Pharisees and the people. Some bribed witnesses were setup for false accusations, but Jesus’ humility radiated through His meek and gentle demeanor, infuriating His adversaries all the more. He did not retaliate or even make an attempt to politely respond in His own defense, against those baseless claims. When Jesus (who is the epitome of true humility), who was the only truly innocent Man, sought no validation for Himself and never attempted to act defensively, how much more should we, who are indeed flawed, need to embody humility in our words and actions and not seek self-approval. It’s important to remember that God approves us because of Jesus, and not because of our good works.

3. Humility opens our eyes to our own flaws

Psalm 19:12,13
Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression.

 The biggest problem with pride is that it makes us blind to our own flaws. It's a sad truth that when pride manifests in us, everybody else can see it, except us. When being criticized for our actions, it's easy to get defensive and play the blame-game, but it takes genuine humility to bring down that wall of defense, to allow ourselves to see our faults and to fix it through God’s strength. It's humility that paves the way for conviction of sin through the Holy Spirit and leads us to true repentance through grace.
 

Fill your void before your adversary does!

Colossians 3:2

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

With all the booming technology around us, there’s no lack of distractions today, that can instantly carry our thoughts into the things of the world, conditioning our mind to think as the people of the world think and to keep us engaged in thoughts that have minimal or no value. We are living in a world today where technology has made itself a master over people’s lives, tempting us to frequently check our mails where there’s a load of marketing, and to scroll through social media feeds that promote online socialization, meaningless and shallow relationships and narcism. I believe that it’s an everyday struggle to keep our focus on God and things that really matter, as I’ve felt that my mind wastes no time in constantly prompting me to check the news website, to follow trending hashtags to stay updated, to keep checking my phone for notifications! Satan’s crafty plan is to keep every mind busy – with the thoughts of the world, and to take away the seed of the life-giving Word. As goes the saying, “An idle mind is the Devil’s workshop”. There’s therefore a need for us to intentionally fill our minds with Godly thoughts. Of course, our flesh will rage against it to pull us towards the worldly things, but that’s when we reach out to God and ask for His grace to focus on things that really matter, on things that are eternal.

Paul instructs that as children of God, as we walk in the light of God’s Word through God’s grace, we are to guard our thought life in Christ. It’s easy to be carried away by the wind (The ungodly are… like the chaff which the wind drives away. – Psalm 1:4) – but it sure does take a lot of effort to swim against the current, to take our steady stand on our Rock (The righteous... shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water – Psalm 1:3) and to say “No” to the worldly distractions - every single day. Taking time to shut off all these distractions and to spend time with God, pondering on His Word, His mighty deeds and His incredibly amazing character – is so vitally important in our spiritual growth towards Holiness and to become like Christ. Let’s be reminded today that our mind is a battleground and let’s pray for God’s grace to overcome the world through the One who overcame! Let the Holy Spirit lead our thoughts today towards what’s right, what’s pure and what’s noble and in a word – what’s Godly. Let our heavenly attraction be stronger than the earthly gravitation.

Philippians 4:8

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Decisions that matter along the way to the Celestial City!

Matthew 7:13,14

The Narrow Way

¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 

¹⁴ Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Sharing a few thoughts from the Pilgrim’s Progress

There’s a lot of different places that Christian goes through in his journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. I believe that the spiritual journey of our lives, can be related to “decisions” that we make every day that can either glorify or disappoint God.

Just pondering on two instances where Christian was led astray through his own (silly) decisions, much like how we mess up life through some hasty decisions! In this temporary life, as we live “in the world” and at the same time being NOT “of the world”, there are some distractions that can keep us out of God’s best. The two key things that Christian learns in these instances are as below:

1.      Don’t settle where you are - Keep moving!

When Christian climbs the Hill of Difficulty, he finds a "shady resting place" that the King had made for the traveling pilgrims to rest for a while before continuing on their journey. Christian decides to rest for a while and then dozes off in that refreshing, comforting place and ends up missing his scroll (the seal of the Holy Spirit). We read on to see that Christian realizes that his scroll was missing only after crossing the Hill of Difficulty. He's then forced to go through the Hill of Difficulty once again to find the lost scroll!

The world is no permanent resting place for us. When we settle for the comfortable lifestyle, finding our sweet spot where there’s no risk involved, being hesitant of any changes that can throw us out of our comfort zone - it's easy to lose the zeal for God's kingdom and the desire for His will to be done in our lives, and settle for mediocrity! This is a dangerous condition where Christians can lose the Holy Spirit in their life and the Light inside them is put off. At times when we tend to settle where we are, let’s not forget that there’s a Holy calling – an adventurous journey up ahead of us, as we do life with God, learning to trust Him along the way.

Philippians 3:13,14 ..but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ¹⁴ I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

2.      Sticking to the King's Highway – At any and every cost!

When the two pilgrims Christian and Hopeful come to a sidetrack called the By path meadow, which ran parallel to the "straight and narrow path" and they saw that the by path meadow seemed a lot easier to walk along than the path they were already on. They decided to take the easy alternative that ran “alongside” the Highway. This was a distraction setup by their adversary, the Devil to lead them away from the highway and lead them into the Doubting castle where the giant called "Despair" captures and chains the pilgrims and Diffidence (Shame/Shyness), the giant's wife asks him to beat the pilgrims without mercy. They finally use the "Key of God's promise" to escape the prison and the giant, and they made it back to the "King's highway".

There’s just ONE way to our Celestial City (Heaven), which is along the straight and narrow path shown by God’s Word (Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path - Psalm 119:105). Sidetracks and shortcuts do not lead to our destination. Anything that seems like a better alternative to “God’s way” will lead us into prisons of doubts where Despair and shame capture our souls! Nonetheless, we have the Key of God’s promise to get out of such prisons!

There are times in our lives when we seem to wait (forever?) on God to come through, for a situation to change. These are the times when the Devil suggests an “easy” alternative and tricks us into thinking that we will still be on a “parallel” road to God’s will if we choose the “easy” way out to the problem we’re facing. When we yield to that temptation, we miss out on God’s best and find ourselves in places God never intended us to be in! Let’s pray for the strength to overcome such distractions in our lives right now and God will help us make Godly decisions that glorify Him! Amen.

Renewal of Hope

Psalm 42:11

¹¹ Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.

The Psalmist has always reminded his soul to cast all its burdens upon the ROCK of his salvation. This is so important in our lives as well. When we walk through the valleys, when there’s darkness all around, when it’s difficult to sense the presence of God - It is all the more important to renew the hope in our never changing God. From the above scripture, we see that there are two things that helps in renewing and restoring our hope in Christ.

1) Reassuring our soul that God is our Keeper and so there is no need to despair – reminding ourselves of all the things God has done in the past boosts up our faith.

2) Praising Him in the dark and stormy circumstances – thanking Him for the lessons God is teaching us through the tough times and for the amazing things God has stored up in our future.

For we know, that

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all. (Psalm 34:19)

The Biblical Stress-reliever

^{Philippians 4:6,7}

⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Nothing can get better than this promise! Reason? There’s a lot of fake promises and empty guarantees out there in the world that claims to provide us joy and peace – but in the end, it’s all absolute vanity and makes us crave for a peace that’s true and lasting.

Philippians 4:6 -  is the ultimate stress-reliever for every believer!

It’s an undeniable fact that we are constantly bombarded with anxious and fear inducing thoughts that are bound to stress us which eventually steals our joy and inner peace. But, we as the children of God have a way out of this – simply by “casting ALL our cares on our Caretaker”, thanking Him for His mercies that are new every morning and presenting our requests to the God who answers prayers. And the outcome? (Philippians 4:7) It’s the divine peace that can never be understood; it sure is insane to be happy and peaceful in the midst of a storm! – That’s the kind of peace that this world could never offer.

God bless!

The Divine Counsel

Psalm 32:8 (New King James Version)

⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will guide you with My eye.

There may be a lot of instances in our lives, when we find ourselves meeting the crossroads – wondering “which way do I choose now?”. Be it in taking up a course to study, choosing a career, selecting a life partner or any other major milestones that define our lives and impact our future. While the world offers numerous options, we know that it only further complicates our decision making process. But, the Bible clearly states that as a man/woman who trusts in God, we have access to divine counsel from our loving God, the Creator who has infinite wisdom and the One who holds our future. What a comfort that is! The only question that now remains is – whom are we running to for directions? Whom do we consult to help us take major life decisions? The divine counsel is guaranteed to only those who completely yield their lives to God and who choose to trust Him in every circumstance.

Proverbs 3:5 -6

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.

The Real Faith

A Hymn of Faith – Habakkuk 3: 17-19

¹⁷ Though the fig tree may not blossom,

Nor fruit be on the vines;

Though the labor of the olive may fail,

And the fields yield no food;

Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,

And there be no herd in the stalls—

¹⁸ Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

¹⁹ The Lord God is my strength;

He will make my feet like deer’s feet,

And He will make me walk on my high hills.

The power of “Faith” is in declaring our trust in God, when the circumstances look discouraging or even impossible. It’s in the furnace of these difficult times that the genuineness of our “Faith” is tested and proved valuable. Let us declare our trust in God just as Job put it, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” This kind of radical Faith does one thing – elevates God above anything and everything that we have/possess in our lives. It often corrects our perspective, purifies our motives and keeps our focus only on God and the things that are eternal.

As the hymn goes,

My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace,

Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God;

’Tis His to lead me there—not mine, but His—

At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.

-          Frances Brook