A desirable and commendable quality of heart and its natural outflow are described here. Translated elsewhere as humility and humbleness, lowliness of mind is true modesty and genuine unpretentiousness. Much false humility has been given rise, by those who would apply this concept out of it intended context. It is natural to find some ability, skill, talent or knowledge in one man which is greater than that found in another. To this of course, humility should immediately defer. The context of the humility spoken of here however, is that which is required when considering the effects of God’s grace in another person’s life. This lowliness of mind causes one to see and highlight the importance, growth or experience of his brethren, in preference to his own. This is not to say that we must believe everybody ‘better’ than ourselves in every sense, or pretend we cannot see the faults in others. Quite to the contrary, true humility is capable of seeing self in a true light. It is able to step in the position God sees fit to give or call one to, without losing sight of personal dependence on Him. True humility can acknowledge progress or achievement without once attributing any aspect of it to mere self. It has as its outflow, the ability to look beyond the flaws in another’s life or character, remembering all too well the vileness and insignificance which describes and defines us all, outside of Christ. This humility principle flies in the face of all pride and ambition, associated with spiritual pursuit or progress. It remembers that each of us owe all we are, have and do, to Jesus Christ. It knows and proclaims unashamedly that without Him, we have no achievement, no success or accomplishment to present as our own. This is why such humility can always find some detail, some experience, and some personal aspect of God’s grace fulfilled in our brother, as ‘better’, more worthwhile and exemplary than our own, and is willing to gladly state so! It glorifies Jesus, in others, and therefore it is ‘better’ and greater than us in our natural state! It highlights what God does in someone else’s life, and that is always a greater work than we could ever do for ourselves! This is God’s recipe for total annihilation of pride! Should all believers genuinely be clothed in such pure humility, foolish and destructive pride would not be known among Christians, and the praises of God would be sung, as believers testify of the wonderful works God has done and they can see in the life of their brethren!
http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion
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