Humble Beast
Gratitude • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Humility is a natural outflow of gratitude. But what is humility? What does it look like to be humble?
First off, we need to make sure we have a right understanding of humility. What is humility? Humility is thinking of yourself less, not thinking less of yourself. There is strength in humility. If you look at the times Jesus healed individuals, He often told them to tell no one. He didn’t need the credit. He did, however, have a right view of His mission and the authority He walked in.
This naturally means the opposite is pride. Pride is when we thinking mostly of ourselves. This looks like arrogance and insecurity.
As someone who struggles with insecurity, this revelation hits hard. Often I worry about what others think of me.
“Do they like me? They think I’m stupid. I’m a drain or a drag.”
All of these thought are about me. I’m more concerned with what I bring to the table. I am assuming that everyone is focused on me, thinking about me, talking about me. That leads to a very small view of the people around you.
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
Our goal here is to think of others as better than ourselves. Not in a negative or demeaning way.
Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
Some translations say “outdo one another in honor.”
That’s all great, but how does this tie to gratitude.
When we are intentional about giving thanks to Jesus, it destroys pride in our life. We realize that nothing comes from us, it comes through us. We are simply a tool in the hand of the Master.
Think about it? What if the hammer believed it was the master craftsman? It would miss out on the bigger picture. How all the tools work together.
When we are focus on ourselves, we believe that we can accomplish everything on our own, and we want everyone around us to know it.
The beauty of humbleness is that it leads to a good and right view of ourselves.
Jesus modeled this for us.
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
How can we learn humility from Jesus?
He did draw attention to His divine nature.
Jesus didn’t go around parading the fact that He was the Savior. He walked in confidence, never shying away from this truth.
He did not allow is situation to dictate His value
He took the humble position of a slave, being born as a human.
Jesus never allowed how others viewed Him to affect how He viewed Himself
Jesus walked in God-given authority
And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”
Jesus gave away authority
Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”
Gratitude reminds us that God is in control, not us. It also reminds us that He has chosen to use us, which gives us hope.
One of the enemies tactics is to get us to forget who we are and whose we are. James 1:16-18
So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.
James is reminding us here that everything good comes from our Father and that we should walk in confidence of HIs love of us.
