5/24 Series: The Art of Decision-Making, Finding Greatness in Humility James 4:1-12
Everyone likes balloons. They bring a smile to our face, they add to a celebration, and when you see one you know something good is going on. During Time for Our Young People Pastor George talked about our lives and how we like to puff ourselves up much like we blow up a balloon. How do we do that you ask? By thinking we are better than others, that you are the best, smartest, cutest, etc., it’s that me, me, me mentality above anyone else. Eventually your balloon will pop. Self-centeredness is an enemy of God. Overconfidence is bolstered by a sense that we know more than we actually do and this in turn almost always leads to poor decision making. In the children’s video in RNM for the week Iesodo (whose character is a portrayal of Jesus) talked on Kindness in the series titled The Greatest is The Least. Iesodo shared that doing something out of obligation or for praise is never the point but doing it out of love is what life is all about. Every task taken on with a positive attitude and with love is our heart of not expecting anything in return. That’s living with humility. Bill Pollard in his series Lead with Humility, calls this a disease of Hubris, that we deserve the best. It’s a leadership disease and a cultural disease, giving into pride. He also says it is time to eat some humble pie. Sunday’s message we heard from Pastor George that humility is putting another first, lifting them up. Humility is tough. Humility plays a crucial role in our lives. CS Lewis in Mere Christianity states that the utmost evil is pride. It was through pride that the devil became the devil. Pride-the chief cause of misery since the world began. In the scripture passage from James, Pastor George mentioned that 15 times you or yours is stated. Instead we are to adopt the same attitude as Christ as we read in Philippians 2:5 “Let the same attitude and purpose and humble mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.” Let Him be your example in humility. In the series The Makings of a Godly Man by Ravi Zacharias he examined the life of Daniel to teach on humility, spirituality, and faith. Ravi says we are to draw a line in place for principles to live by. In humility God tells us to look at your heart and see it as I see it. For this Ravi calls the Line of Resistance by training his (Daniel’s) appetite. We are daily responsible for training our hunger and passions. Train what we can enjoy – shun whatever we know can lose us to service for the King of Kings. The Line of Dependence is where he (Daniel) knows the true source of wisdom. God’s Wisdom- the ability to discern right from wrong, our spirituality. The Line of Confidence is our faith. We follow God no matter what happens, even if you are thrown into a lion’s den. Lisa Chen, in her series of True Beauty encourages us to say I belong to Jesus. True beauty lies in the heart. She spoke of denying yourself. Deny yourself and those self-indulgences, be my disciple says Jesus. When you feel it’s the right thing to do for another, you don’t question it, you just do it. Life is not perfect. We are on a journey with God. He wants us to lay down our lives, give up our comforts, possessions, stuff that we feel is most important, and to live life with Joy that nothing nor no one else can give except when you have that personal relationship with Jesus. Iesodo also ended in saying what is in your heart is what is most important, if you want to be a great leader you must be a humble servant. Never stop doing what is right. Open your heart and enjoy all the beauty and fun life has to offer. Ravi Zacharias says that God will ask us “What’s your name?” In answering are you willing to see your heart today as God sees it? Humility begins in the heart. Larry & Darlene
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