Have Thine own way, Lord,
Have Thine own way;
Thou art the Potter,
I am the clay.
Mould me and make me
After Thy will,
While I am waiting
Yielded and still.
A. Pollard (1862-1934)
Have Thine own way, Lord,
Have Thine own way;
Thou art the Potter,
I am the clay.
Mould me and make me
After Thy will,
While I am waiting
Yielded and still.
A. Pollard (1862-1934)
I asked the Lord, that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.
I hoped that in some favoured hour
At once He’d answer my request,
And by His love’s constraining power
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.
Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in every part.
Yea, more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid my low.
‘Lord, why is this?’ I trembling cried,
‘Wilt thou pursue Thy worm to death?’
’Tis in this way,’ the Lord replied,
‘I answer prayer for grace and faith.
These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st seek thy all in me.’
John Newton (1725-1807)
“True humility is not an abject, grovelling, self-despising spirit, it is but a right estimate of ourselves as God sees us.”
Tyron Edwards (1804-1894), U.S. Theologian
When Jesus went to the cross He didn’t go reluctantly with clenched fists, He went willingly with open arms and hands.
Humility comes before honour.
Proverbs 15:33 & 18:12 NIV
‘True humility is a central tenet of the Christian faith. No one struts through the narrow gate that leads into the kingdom. We are sheep, not peacocks; servants, not sovereigns.’
Explore 7/4/2017
It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honourable to seek one’s own honour.
Proverbs 25:27 NIV1984
The American Puritan preacher Cotton Mather invited a young Benjamin Franklin over for dinner one night and showed him his library. As they walked through a narrow passage into the library, Mather yelled back at Franklin, “Stoop! Stoop!” Franklin didn’t understand the exhortation until it was too late, bumping his head on a low beam. Mather turned the situation into a sermon. “Let this be a caution to you not always to hold your head so high. Stoop, young man, stoop – as you go through this world – and you’ll miss many hard thumps.”
Many years later, Franklin told Mather’s son that he never forgot that moment. “This advice, thus beat into my head, has frequently been of use to me,” said Franklin. “And I often think of it when I see pride mortified and misfortunes brought upon people by carrying their heads too high.”
Source: Mark Batterson, ‘Chase The Lion’ devotional, day 3, YouVersion Bible app
With humility comes wisdom.
Proverbs 11:2 NIV
Let me be a little kinder,
Let me be a little blinder
To the faults of those about me;
Let me praise a little more.
Let me be, when I am weary,
Just a little bit more cheery;
Let me serve a little better
Those who I am working for.
Let me be a little braver
When temptation makes me waver;
Let me strive a little harder
To be all that I should be.
Let me be a little meeker
With the person who is weaker;
Let me think more of my neighbour
And a little less of me. (Anon)
John Stott reminds us that Jesus’ foot washing is an example of humble service; it was also a parable of salvation. At first Peter refused to let Jesus wash his feet. In that case, Jesus said, Peter could not be in fellowship with him. And so next Peter requested the washing of his hands and head as well. And Jesus responded (John 13v10), “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean.” This washing is a picture of salvation: first there’s the bath and then there is a regular washing of the feet. When we first come to Jesus in repentance and faith, we are given a bath. Theologically it’s called “justification” (we receive a new status) or “regeneration” (we are born again), and spiritually this is acted out in baptism, which is unrepeatable. But in the course of our Christian lives we continue to fall into sin and we get splattered with mud in the dirty streets of the world: What we need is not another justification or bath but a daily forgiveness.
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Philippians 2:3-5 NIV
“The devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)
Jesus is the King of Kings, yet He arrived as a humble servant. Humility is not thinking you are less, it is never forgetting the fact that it is Jesus who made you more. So, how do you become like Jesus? How do you develop a spirit of humility? Humility is the by-product of being with Jesus. Anyone who walks intimately with Him will not think more highly of himself than he should. To be loved by Jesus and invited into a relationship with Him, is all we need to right-size ourselves and to assume His gentleness and grace. To be humble doesn’t mean you have to be weak. God has given you all you need to live confidently as His. The proud will never truly lift up God’s name in praise. Yet He raises the humble to new heights.
Louie Giglio
Source: from a reflection by Louie Giglio (on YouVersion Bible app)
When Colonel Samuel Logan Brengle of the Salvation Army was once introduced as ‘the great Colonel Brengle,’ he wrote in his journal: ‘If I appear great in their eyes, the Lord is most gracious in helping me to see how absolutely nothing I am without him. He does use me. But I am conscious that he uses me, and that it’s not of me that the work is done. The axe cannot boast of the trees it has cut down. It could do nothing without the woodsman. He made it, he sharpened it, he used it, and the moment he throws it aside it becomes only old used iron. Oh, that I may never lose sight of this.’
Source: The UCB Word For Today , 27/9/2006
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
Someone once asked St. Francis of Assisi how he was able to accomplish so much. He replied, “This may be why: The Lord looked down from heaven and said, ‘Where can I find the weakest, littlest man on earth?’ The he saw me and said, ‘I’ve found him. I will work through him, and he won’t be proud of it. He’ll see that I am only using him because of his insignificance.’” – You may be small in your own eyes, but, friend, God has need of you! He wants you to serve.
Source: Our daily Bread devotional for 28/3/2010
“I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility.”
John Ruskin (1819-1900), English writer and social reformer
A Private Litany of Humility
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honoured, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of comfort and ease, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being criticized, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being passed over, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being lonely, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being hurt, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering, deliver me, Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like yours.
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, strengthen me with your Spirit.
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, teach me your ways.
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
help me put my self-importance aside
to learn the kind of cooperation with others
that makes possible the presence of your Abba’s household. Amen.
– (adapted from a prayer by Rafael, Cardinal Merry Del Val, 1865–1930)
HUMOUR
A man stood beneath a magnificent oak tree and marvelled that such a regal giant amongst trees could grow from such tiny acorns as were littered all around him. Then the man looked over a fence into a neighbouring field and noticed an abundance of giant pumpkins growing on the ground. The pumpkins were still connected to their tiny vines which simply could never support such weighty fruit. The man pondered this seemingly ludicrous situation and came to the conclusion that God must have got things wrong. “Surely, it would make more sense for giant pumpkins to grow on a giant tree and for the tiny acorns to grow on a tiny vine?” the man mused to himself.
Just then an acorn fell from the tree and hit the man directly on the top of his head. The man looked up towards the heavens, gave a wry smile and humbly corrected his assumption, “Maybe God was on top of things, after all!”
In Asia they have a saying: ‘the fuller the ear is of grain the lower it bends.’
“Humility is not the same as timidity. Humility is a virtue, timidity is a disease.”
Jim Rohn
Remember this: No one ever choked swallowing their pride!
Humility is not thinking less of yourself it is thinking of yourself less.
Rick Warren
Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, Zondervan Publishing, p.148
Once a year members of our church give up precious free time on their day off to litter pick and clean the streets. Now some people might think, ‘picking up other people’s garbage and sweeping the streets is degrading, it’s undignified and humiliating’… (Jesus stooped to wash his disciple’s feet, because they needed washing and no-one else was willing to do it!) For those who willingly get involved in our practical act of community service – cleaning the streets – it is like an act of praise and worshipping God; we are caring for creation and serving our neighbours and so an ordinary act becomes a sacred act. Certainly, it is a very ordinary thing to do but God is found in the ordinary, not just in the extraordinary – and, friends, there’s a lot more ordinary!
R. Ian Seymour
Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips.
Proverbs 27:2 NIV1984
Meekness is not weakness.
Jesus washed his disciple’s feet but Simon Peter was reluctant to having his feet washed… it was just too close up and personal. Would you have been reluctant? – Jesus said, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” It is uncomfortable needing someone to wash us – it’s undignifying! We only submit to it when we know we need cleaning and cannot clean ourselves. We can’t earn forgiveness; we need to be washed. Jesus said, ‘since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.’ (John 13:14-15 NIV)
“Never ruin an apology with an excuse.”
attributed to Kimberly Johnson
I had the blues because I had no shoes; then upon the street, I met a man who had no feet! (Anon)
In the ancient world, actors in Greek dramas were called hypocrites because they wore a mask. God isn’t interested in a mask of humility and holiness, He’s wants the real thing.