HUMILITY: YOUR MEANS OF PROMOTION
"Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves unto the elders. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility. For God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time" 1 Peter 5:5-6. (KJV)
Humility is being conscious of ones failings, lowering yourself in your own estimation, unpretentious, not boastful or excessive. Humility begins with submission to God. Submission to God is proven by submission to other men. That is why in the text quoted above, we are encouraged to recognize the authority of the elders. They may be elders by matter or age, spiritual elders or your seniors in ranks. Then we are told to be subject one to another. This means that inspite of the differences in position and ranks, we should resist the temptation to think that we are above and better than everyone else. Rather we have to remember that we have failings, we are not flawless and where we are weak, our strength may come from the others we are subject to. That is how the church benefits from its members as each serves the body with the gift within him.
You have to remember all the time how much God has done for you, when he forgave you all your sins to make you what you are now. Remembering that will cloth you with humility. When you fail to remember how much the Lord had done for you in respect to your sins and faults, you will become proud (insolent, overbearing, disdainful, presumptuous, boastful). Yet we see that God resists (opposes, frustrates and defeats) the proud. Pride can cause others not to remember that without God's mercy and grace, they would be just as wrecked as the people they may want to despise. Pride causes people to make wrong conclusions about others and be presumptuous. It is important to examine our motives behind everything we do or say lest it is pride behind it.
Examining your motive to ensure that pride is not the root will spare you the ordeal of struggling against God. God will oppose and frustrate any ministry that is being offered (even in his name) out of selfishness (pride).
Much of the stagnation in the church's spiritual growth can be traced to the ministers in leadership going their own way in pride, instead of God's way. In the end like Prophet Jonah, they get opposed and frustrated by God himself. This can occur in many areas of your life. It may be that you want your way in the choice of the partner you want to marry; in financial pursuit, in the way you spend money, in the choice of person required to fill a ministerial position or in the way things should be done. It can as well be boasting about a gift or blessing that the Lord is the one that gave you as though it were your own doing.
All this can be opposed or frustrated by God because it is not his way and takes his glory. If you have experienced frustration in whatever you have been doing over a long period of time, re-examine yourself. You may find that God is not in your plans most of the time.
There are many cases of frustrations and defeats that many children of God may attribute to satan without knowing it is actually God opposing them due to pride.
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you." God's mighty hand represents his authority and power. When you humble yourself under God's mighty hand by forsaking your way, you have submitted to his authority. Then God is ready to work with you. He will not fear exalting you.
The reason why he would want to exalt you is to bring you to a position of more authority, power and resources in order to enable you to serve him better. That is why in John 1:16 the word says that out of the fullness of his grace he gives us one blessing after another. Humility will cause God to make for you a way where there is no way. Through humility he will empower, bless, protect and exalt you and whatever great things he does for you, never forget it. Instead remain humble. Therefore, clothe yourself with humility and he will raise you!
God bless you.
George Oduch (Senior Pastor) Victory Church
Tel: 256-414.222700, 256-772 465293,
Email: victorychurch@vccmin.org
No comments:
Post a Comment