Right Thinking About Self

Right thinking about self

Good Morning~

How do we think rightly about S E L F? If humility might be defined as ‘a right position of our hearts toward God, toward others, and ourselves’…how do we get aligned properly?

Illustrations are always helpful when we are seeking to see clearly. Once I was teaching on this topic, and asked my friend, Liz, to bring in a piece of her art to make my point. Liz is talented in many forms of media, but this particular sculpture is my favorite one of her creations. ‘Tis a beautiful sculpted figure of a woman, with strands of precious stones, cascading down in shades of translucent aqua’s to form an elegant skirt. I just love it! After unveiling it, I took comments and opinions from the audience about the piece…….but then, I invited Liz to step up and tell us what she had in mind when she created the lovely lady. Not surprisingly, the thoughts of the Creator are quite different from those of the casual observer. All that to say, I truly believe that

>if we want to have a right orientation of our hearts to God, others, and self, then we ought to let our Creator inform our thinking.

“About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Which of us is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?’ Jesus called a small child over to him and put the child among them. Then he said, ‘I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 18.1-4

So Jesus wants us to be as humble as a child? Yes. A little child is not proud or arrogant because the world has yet to corrupt him. A child has no problem expressing himself, saying what he wants or needs. He trusts simply and easily. That is how our Heavenly Father wants us to be with him.

Somehow, I think we might see our greatest struggle with humility in our attitudes toward other people. The ‘proud’ are often: critical, boastful, angry, vengeful, arrogant, prejudicial, greedy, self righteous, and judgmental; whereas, the ‘humble’ give the benefit of the doubt, practice quiet confidence, forgive easily, believe in the Golden Rule and being courteous, patient, teachable, and free from pretense.

Paul wrote that we should “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4.2 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2.3-4 What can be added to that? Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. So, let’s give the benefit of the doubt, let’s assume we really don’t know everything, and let go of our critical spirits, okay?

As for how we view ourselves – well, it is God who created us and gifted us. He alone can give us our true value! We are not capable of a proper estimation, and we certainly should not let anyone else give us our value . . . only God. We are loved by God our Creator. He takes great delight in us, and will quiet us with his love.1 He made us in his image.2 We are the apple of his eye.3 And when we fell from grace, he gave us the very best he had—his own precious Son—to restore us to him.4 So we should view ourselves as loved by God. I am who I am because he loves me, not because of anything I have done. (Not much room for pride there.) On the contrary, when I begin to understand God’s grace to me, it makes my heart swell with gratitude; and I’ve noticed that gratitude and humility are often companions.

Learning to live in the reality of who we are in Christ settles the question of our worth, and frees us up to be humble . . . it frees us up to be like children, and that is a great start in thinking rightly about self!

Christine

podcast: www.pastorwoman.com

1 Zephaniah 3.17

2 Genesis 1.26

3 Zechariah 2.8

4 John 3.16