The Prideful Cliff

This past Sunday in our series The Cliff: Living on the Edge, we explored the deadly sin of pride. 

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”            1 Peter 5:6 

Avoiding pride is only possible when we embrace humility.

So how do we humble ourselves?

 

First, undertake a sober self-assessment. 

God creates us with strengths, and weaknesses.  The scripture exhorts us to be aware of both.

“ 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 faith God has distributed to each of you.”             Romans 12:3

                                           

Think honestly about your strengths and weaknesses.  Be grateful for your strengths, they are a gift, and honest about your weaknesses, they are a reminder that we need God and others to help us along the way.  Acknowledging dependence fosters humility. 

Second, embrace the discipline of service.

 

Humility demands self-forgetfulness.  There is no better way to forget self than to submit to service in two ways. 

We should commit to serving in secret.

In his brilliant book The Celebration of Discipline, Richard J. Foster writes…

Of all the classical spiritual disciplines, service is the most conducive to the growth of humility.  When we set out on a consciously chosen course of action that accents the good of others and is, for the most part, a hidden work, a deep change occurs.

Nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh like service, and nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in hiddenness.  The flesh whines against service, but screams against hidden service.  It will devise subtle, religiously acceptable means to call attention to the service rendered.  If we stoutly refuse to give in to this lust of the flesh, we crucify it.  Every time we crucify the flesh, we crucify our pride and arrogance. 

We should also submit to being served. 

Even a prideful person can schedule a time of service, but it is much harder to sit still and be served.  Therefore in putting down pride and cultivating humility we must be willing to let others serve us of their own volition. 

Third, speak graciously to others. 

“Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”                                                                         Proverbs 16:24

When we speak words of grace to others, we resist the temptation to build ourselves up, and instead choose to build them up.  Our words are sweet to their soul and they provide us with the healing of humility.