Humble Pie

Romans 12: 3-8

Biblegateway.com

³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. ⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

The book of Romans was created as a way for Apostle Paul to speak to the Romans about what God had instructed them to follow.  Paul, or known then as Saul, was once a Pharisees, an important member of one of the societies of Judaism. Interestingly enough, he was first against Christians and especially those whom were disciples.   But by the grace of God, he was saved and now preaching to Jews and Gentiles alike.  First an opinionated, rule following, self righteous man and here in this book to the Romans, completely humble accepting his God given fate.

The amazing blessing of humility.  So few will ever attain in completeness.

I wore a really cool shirt back in third grade.  It said, “It’s hard to be humble when you’re GREAT!”  On one ordinary day I walked into this classroom and my teacher spied the words in which I forgot were even printed on my shirt.  She looked sternly into my eyes making me think I did something horribly wrong, and said, ” So, what does humble mean?” Stunned, perplexed, confused I stared blankly at her waiting for her to give me a clue to what she was saying.  No luck.  

I sit here today still wondering what that word really means.  I hear it in the quietness of the morning and night.  It rolls around allusively capturing my attention.  For so long I saw it as a weakness.  A human doormat.  A spineless way of responding with low expectations. Was this what Paul wanted for the Romans?  Did he really know it would provide greatness and amazing expectations?

Through Jesus, God has given us many blessings and one that rains true to my everyday is forgiveness of sin.  When I function in this fast paced, answer driven world, I often feel a sense of entitled emotions, justified actions, and expected recognition.  This is sin.  Plain and simple.

God wants me to serve, serve with a humble heart.  This service needs to represent beauty that looks like Jesus.  It’s working for the joy and not expecting anything in return.  The only return is bringing people closer to Him.

Romans 8:28

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.