3/18/12

The Cross and Humility

      Our training in the world teaches us to protect self, to defend it, to guard its rights, even to tastefully tout its accomplishments. God’s wisdom is entirely different. Jesus calls us to lose our lives and promises that when we lose them for him and for the Gospel, we will find them.
        It is not hard to see how this fits with humility. The man who is dying to himself will not pridefully defend his sin. He will be grateful for those who help him see it; he will decide to confess it and expose it, being confident that this will lead to encouragement for all around him.

3/11/12

The Truth Will Set You Free

The Truth Sets You Free
        Jesus taught, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Even those who do not acknowledge Jesus as the Christ agree that this is the highest kind of wisdom. Universities place this saying over their doors. Scientists are fiercely committed to finding the truth. Whenever you ask for guidance or counsel, you want to get it from someone who is fully in touch with the truth. You would not be interested in going on safari with a guide who believed that with just a little extra effort you could outrun a lion or a rhino. You would want a guide fully in touch with the truth, a guide who knows the limitations of human beings and the amazing strength and speed of those in the animal kingdom.

3/4/12

Why Humility?

The basis for humility is quite simple. Humility is the only thing that makes sense because of how eternal and unchanging and powerful God is and how fading and precarious and dependent we are. Nothing you do in your life will ever change that. People are sometimes humble until they enjoy some great success. What fools we can be! A little success, achieved by the grace of God, does not change the nature of reality. It does not change who you are and who God is.