And Those Who Walk in Pride He is Able to Humble

Romans 12:3-5

"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 measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others."

The more I read these words the clearer it becomes that this passage is about thinking realistically about yourself. There was a time, even as a seasoned Christian, when I began to think I had it all together. To be frank, it felt natural to think I was more than I really was especially during a season of peace and prosperity. But, when the wheels came off the truth surfaced and reality conquered my prideful optimism. Apparently, I did not have it all together. Looking back now the major problem with that roller coaster was that it was unnecessary. In fact, God never wanted me to think I had it all together in the first place.

The longer I walk with Jesus the more I truly understand that the major lesson that must be learned is how to be totally dependent on God. I must die to myself each day and surrender my will to His will.

Warning: If we allow a self-building self-supporting self-sustaining attitude to creep in and puff us up we better be ready for a ride. We will let ourselves down every time. Sure, we can flounder on our own for a season but in the end we will fall. When we think more highly about ourselves than we ought too we allow pride to put down roots in us that will inevitably bear the fruit of failure. Did you see it in the text? What is the sobering truth? Read it again.

It says we should think of ourselves with "sober judgment, according to the measure of faith" we can muster up. Right? No, we should think of ourselves with "sober judgment according to the measure of faith God has given [us]." Think carefully now, the reason this is important is because when we think too highly of ourselves we overlook the fact that God has given us the faith in the first place. We did not have it nor did we earn it. Faith is a gift.

So what do we do with this today? My encouragement to you is to respond with thanksgiving. Thank the Lord for His kindness. Thank him for the gift of faith he has cultivated in your heart.
Let your personal worship be centered in God's greatness and not our greatness. May we have a radical humility before Him.

Additional scriptures: Proverbs 8:13, 16:18, Daniel 4:37, 1 Corinthians 1:31, Galatians 6:14, Ephesians 2:8-9

Taming The Tongue

To be such a small muscle I am surprise at the amount of influence our tongue can have in our lives. The words we blurt out can get us into so much trouble, yet they can also do a tremendous amount of good. Frankly, they can kill and they can heal.

The Bible says is Proverbs 12:25 “a kind word cheers [a man] up.” Is it not true that when you are feeling down and out a kind word can make a huge difference? You have probably experienced this first hand. When a friend comes to you and shares a kind encouraging word, do not brush it off, but take note of it. Then go and be a friend to someone else.

James 3:9-10 tells us what many of us already know, not because we’ve heard it before, but because we see this and experience it everyday. Consider this carefully. “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers this should not be.”

Today’s challenge is straight forward. Tame your tongue!

What's on the inside?

Leading worship begins with what’s on the inside. Deep inside your heart is your motive. There’s nothing wrong with having an underlying hidden motive, but if your motive is not first and foremost to adore God and make His praise glorious then what you really have is an empty heart.

Without a pure motive all you sing are empty words that are nothing more than a vapor in the wind. It is vitally important to have a heart check-up before you lead worship. We all have an underlying motives, but are they to give God glory or to give ourselves glory.

“The Lord’s searchlight penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive.” Proverbs 20:27 (NLT)