Humble Yourself

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.  James 4:6
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 5:3

1. How do these two verses go together?
2. How does God Oppose the proud?
3. What does it mean to be humble or poor is spirit?

Introduction:

We all want our children to be successful; we want them to be winners.  We don’t like the idea of surrendering because we think of it as the opposite of winning.  We think of Japan or Germany that surrendered, but when you surrender to God the opposite happens. You don’t lose; you win! You become strong.  When you give up and surrender to God you find your life instead of losing it.  This is the wonderful paradox of the spiritual world.  “and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all”  Mark 9:35.  If you want to be rich with life, love and power, you must become poor in spirit which is an attitude of humbleness, helpless, a beggar towards God.

Luke 9:22 -24   “Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. 23   And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24   For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” As Jesus took up the cross to die for us we must take our cross to die – daily. We must die daily to our selfish desires, it is the only way to find the fulfillment Jesus intends for us.

When we surrender to God, we give up trying to figure out the best and most fruitful ways of living our lives.  When we give up and admit that our own way has gotten us into a deep rut, addictions, misery, unhappiness, bitterness; when we go our own way we are fighting against God.  In other words this is a description of SIN.  Sin is doing your life your way and ignoring God’s ways.  So, when you surrender you stop fighting God; you realize that He is more powerful, His way is perfect. 

Teach your children (of any age) that humility is the secret to being filled by God; teach them that humility means being helpless and powerless before God.

Guard your heart:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  Matthew 5:3

Focus on each word in this verse.

1. Blessed. – Sacred, holy, supremely favored.  Think about this, if you are blessed you are highly favored by God. He values you above all of His material creation.  He wants me to enjoy, be fulfilled, happy and complete in HIM.

2. Poor in spirit. – Three basic meanings:

a. Being humble, a beggar, helpless or aware that you are like a newborn baby.  You say to God “I don’t have any power, character, or love like you have; I cry out to God and say please give me your grace, love, and power.
b. Put your self last; it means being concerned about others well-being before your own needs
c. Have an awareness that your spirit is dead; “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Finally focus on the thought of daily.

Daily is the key to success in staying humble.  You must chew on God’s word daily in order to embed them into your heart.  Oh how easy it is to allow the weeds of life, the cares, and the lack of watering and nurturing to choke out God’s word’s from our heart.  When this happens, the world’s beliefs and our flesh take over our lives quickly!

Remain humble by emptying yourself each morning before you jump out of bed.  Work with your children with this before you send them out for the day!

Your plan:

1. Make a list of all the ways that Pride and Humility are displayed in your home.
2. Mark them as dark or light beliefs
3. Identify what is the opposite belief.
4. Which ones are you going to change?  Focus on one every week.

One more verse to help you is “O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8

Practicing Humility:

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Matthew 6:12

• How does this verse relate to humility?
• Who do you need to forgive in your life?
• Who do you need to seek forgiveness from?

Forgiving and seeking forgiveness from our children and others is an important way to show humility.  Admitting when you have offended someone is always humbling.

When seeking forgiveness, you may want to keep three things in mind:

1. Your approach sets the tone of the conversation.  Your voice should be soft and receptive to the other person’s feelings and attitude; everything needs tenderness and sincerity in our voice.  Ask yourself “how receptive are you to hear what the other person may say?”  Too many times we want to blame others for the hurt that we cause!  Blaming does not work!

2. Ask specifically how you hurt the person; your assumptions may not be correct.  This is a major step in validating their feelings and their value to you.  This allows the other person to share their feelings.

3. Worry only about your own faults!  Don’t worry about what the other person did to you.  You are not in control of the other person and can’t make them seek your forgiveness!

Four actions to guard your child’s heart

1. Practice High Honor – Honor is a choice!  It is the simple decision to place high value, worth and importance on another person, to view them as a priceless gift: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:21.  Love involves putting that decision into action; honor is a gift we give to others – whether the want it or not; whether the deserve it or not!

2. Keep anger low – Anger is an emotion that in and of itself is neutral.  Anger drives us to an action.  The problem we have is not letting the anger go once we have acted on the situation that gave us the anger.  It is unresolved anger that destroys relationships with your spouse and your children.  Going to the deepest level of anger it is rooted in unfulfilled expectations; it is frustration on not receiving what we had expected from other people or circumstances.

3. Seek forgiveness – Forgiveness starts with a pardon. Forgiveness also involves caring for the offending person; that person has something in their heart that needs healing.  When you forgive others they are released from your anger and you are healed by God!  Forgiveness helps the offended person as much as the one who offends.  Prolonged and unforgiven anger is a form of pride, and since God resists the proud, He will resist the unforgiving angry person because that angry person is really shaking his fists in God’s face and calling Him a liar!  You don’t believe that God can work something that has happened for your good.

4. Find ways to serve one another.

a. Your family needs to feel valued
b. Your family needs open communication
c. Your family needs your shoulder before your mouth – empathy and comfort
d. Your family needs to be held and touched
e. Your family needs verbal praise
f. Your family needs the basics: food, water, shelter, warmth, touch, validation by listening and understanding.