Humility & Hope

I'm going to be transparent right now - so you can read as long as you promise to still love me when I'm done. . . I have to be honest, though, because that was the commitment that I made when I started this blog. So love me or not, here is what is on my heart and mind at this particular moment in life:

humility is really, really, really, hard.

I like to think of myself as a humble person. I am willing to admit that I am a sinner - and most of the time I am quick to admit when I have sinned. I see wonderful qualities in other people that I admire and applaud, and I recognize my own inability to excel in some of those very same areas. I, I, I, I, I. That isn't a sentence, but a fairly comprehensive summary of this paragraph.

I am willing to be humble on my own terms. As long as I am the one humbling myself, then its ok. But what if someone else humbles me? What if I don't recognize and admit my sin but someone else points it out? Am I willing to be humbled, or only to admit my need for it?

In all honesty, I don't really want to be humbled in front of anyone. I don't really want for them to see my flaws, question my motives, or know that I sin. I want to hold all the power in that area and allow that information to leak out slowly, and only inasmuch as I see fit. But that isn't true humility, is it?

I am flawed. If you didn't know that already, now you do. I'm guessing you aren't surprised. . . And let's just get it out there - you're flawed too. But here is the amazing, beautiful thing about the body of Christ. We can extend grace to each other and love each other - flaws and all! We can choose to believe the best in each other even when we smell the stench of our sinful ways. And when we, as the body of Christ, choose to love and support each other despite our sin (rather than just trying to pretend we don't do it), a crazy thing happens. . . We all start sinning less!

Its a theory that I learned about in education classes called the self-fulfilling prophesy. When you believe that your students are incapable of success, you subconsciously create an environment where it is impossible for them to succeed. When you have high expectations and believe that your students possess all of the talent and drive to meet them - they often rise to the occasion and blow your expectations right out of the water!

And so it is in the body of Christ. . . when we believe the best in each other, when we love and support each other, then we each rise up and begin to live the way we really should. We don't ignore our sin, but believe God can grow us and use us in spite of it. You want to know what I think about you? I believe that you can really walk with God. Not some half-hearted, lukewarm walk with God. I believe that you can walk in such a way that He will beam with pride on the day you see Him face to face. I believe that through you God can change the whole world. I believe that if you surrender all of yourself to Him and follow after Jesus your life can make a ripple that will effect hundred and thousands of lives to come!! I believe that God can do that no matter what you've done in the past (or yesterday, or this morning). . .

We all need to be humbled sometimes. . . and I need to have a willing and open heart to recieve it. But we also need to hear the love and encouragement of those around us that tells us despite our sinfulness and selfishness, God can and will do awesome things in and through us!

Oh, please pray for true humility in me, and I'll pray for God's powerful, miraculous hand to change through world through you.