It takes two to tango! Much ado about nothing! Battle lines are drawn! Go around in Circles! Fighting likes Cats and Dogs! Blamestorming! I’m sure you can guess what these idioms are communicating!?!?!
Relationships are HARD! HUMILITY is HARD!! Now I’m telling you that humility PROCEEDS healthy relationships!!?? But HOW and WHY!
Humility is lived out primarily in relationships! If there were no other people, it would be pretty easy to live humbly. Who would you compare yourself to, who would you compete with, who would you have to convince that your way is the right way?
Humility is definitely a conversation in the BIBLE! Matthew 23:12 tells us “those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted”. How do I live humility out, especially in a society that has taught us to be fairly “me-centric”? Is it really going to benefit me?
This past weekend we dove a little deeper into Joseph’s life and what the Bible has to say about people who live humbly. One question I like to ask when talking with people about relationships and humility is “if you knew by choosing humility you could HAVE HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS, would you pray for God’s help in this area of your life?”
Now, honestly, praying a prayer for humility isn’t easy…it’s like praying for patience…you know your patience will be tested…otherwise how will you get more patient? It IS the beginning of working towards living out a life like Jesus, who humbly gave up HIS life to show HIS LOVE and DEVOTION to us, breaking the barrier that had been dividing us and God the Father!
I also outlined some practical steps to become of person of humility!
- Talk less, LISTEN more!
Check your own conversations….do you talk most of the time or do other people get a word in too? As we looked at Joseph’s life, we saw that after years of serving in the prison he was starting to NOTICE people more, in fact in Genesis 40:6-7 we read that there were two prisoners alongside Joseph that he noticed were upset looking and he asked them what was wrong! SO different from the young cocky Joseph who told his brothers and dad all about his dreams and how they would bow to him!!
- Choose faithfulness over being comfortable
We again looked at Joseph’s life…he waited two full years after God gave him the interpretation of the cup bearers dream to be called to help interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. And beyond waiting for those years…he had been a slave in Egypt for over 10 years! I’m sure by that time he thought the dreams he had as a boy were just figments of his imagination and would never actually happen! Even though this may have been his thoughts, he WORKED hard at the things that were placed before him and was FAITHFUL in those things! All along, God was preparing him for MORE!!!
And finally:
- Prefer others ABOVE MYSELF
We saw this in Joseph’s life as he interpreted Pharoah’s dream…he not only told Pharoah that it was nothing special about him that gave him answers BUT that it was GOD! Then to take it even further…he told Pharoah to find a wise and intelligent man to manage the land through the years ahead! He didn’t egotistically say HIRE ME!!!
So, create space to ask for humility from God in your life, and then when situations arise where you need to prefer others above yourself or choose faithfulness over being comfortable or TALK LESS and listen more…know God is shining through your in all those situations and perhaps HE is training you for something far GREATER!
If you want to check out the talk, click here!