Equations

Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love God’s Word.  It tells you what’s important.  Or you wouldn’t know, you would just guess.  What is really important?  Humility.  How Important Is Humility?  Humble yourself, and God will exalt you, exalt yourself and God will humble you – it’s pretty important.  God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (power, wind in your sails).  The Hallmark of Jesus was humility – it’s what led to His obedience, even death on a cross.  Here’s an equation, H+FOTL=WHL.  Humility and the Fear of the LORD bring wealth, honor, and life.  Humility is pretty important, Humility goes with the Fear of the LORD, it’s required to have it.  And the Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, which God says “get above all else.”  Praying that you’ll review The Humility Packet. If it’s that important, it’s worth knowing what God says about it, in his own words.  It’s critical to your success.  What is humility?  There are two kinds.  Humility towards God, and Humility towards others.  Humility towards God is obeying Him. To submit yourself to His Word, to come under His mission - submission.  Humility towards others is preferring them.  Thinking of others more highly than yourself, preferring them over you.  Giving them the bigger piece, instead of taking it for yourself.  It isn’t submitting to others like you do with God, but God does say we are to submit to one another in love, husbands and wives, and those who are part of the family of God.  Being humble enough to heed counsel, to let others speak into your life, to encourage you in what you are doing well, and challenge you on things you should reconsider – that are not fully aligned with God’s truth and His best.  They may see things that you don’t, or see them differently and perhaps more accurately than you do from your self-defending, or self-promoting perspective.  The First Step of Humility – is Obey God, accept His Word as truth, and commit to obeying it, no matter what.  If you aren’t humble before God, humility before others won’t really matter.  The FIRST STEP of humility towards others is to think more highly of them.  When you think of others – do you think of them better and more important than you?  Their wishes, their preferences, or words, or thoughts, or needs?  Or do you think of you as better and more important than them?  Your wishes, or preferences, or words, or thoughts or needs?  When you think of others (humility starts here, with thoughts before words or actions), do you believe the best of them? or the worst of them?  Do you slander them in your mind?  If you do, you will slander them with your words.  God hates slander.  Think more highly of others – overlook their faults.  “Oh they probably think this and this, they probably think they’re better than me, or they probably will do this, or say that…”  How do you know what they think? or what they did or will do?  Why are you accusing them – to yourself?  That’s what the devil does – the accuser of the brethren. Are you doing his work for him?  Why?  You don’t know all the details or circumstances.  They may have had a good reason to do or say what they did.  You don’t know all the facts.  Or they just made a mistake – have you never made one?  Or they’re just having a bad day, has that never happened to you?  Or, OK - they really were malicious of intent.  Who cares, God says to forgive and love - even your enemies.  He forgave you of far worse than that.  Humility towards others, starts with how you think when you think of them.  Think more highly.  THE SECOND STEP of humility toward others– say nothing harmful. Say nothing if need be.  But if you think more highly, you won’t have to hold your tongue against them, you’re not against them.  You’ve learned to guard your thoughts, and always think more highly.  THE THIRD STEP of humility towards others - is to listen.  Learn to listen and you will learn humility.  Seek to understand, not to be understood. Listen without interrupting, or forming your response, listen to ask the next clarifying question, to better understand what they are saying, or even to help them discover what they really mean or really need.  Be willing to listen, without ever having to say anything.  Just listen, it may be all that God wants you to do at this time. (Pray first, not Say first).  The FOURTH STEP of humility towards others is to serve, to help them.  Be willing to sacrifice what benefits you, to do what benefits others.  Let God lead you.  Some people are out helping others when they should help their spouse, or finish their own responsibilities.  Only do what God leads you, when His timing is right, but be willing to serve – it’s humility in practice.  Praying that you will study The Humility Packet, so you know God’s heart, so He can instruct you in this Humility thing - that is so important to your success… so you learn to walk in it, so He can exalt you – at the very best time. 
 
Love you all,
dad