NewDayvotional

From the pastor for the people

Archives for August 2015

How to Kill Pride Part 5: Humble Myself Voluntarily

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In a previous post I’ve pointed out the destructive nature of pride in our lives. In this post I want to focus on the fifth way we can practice humility and kill the pride in our lives.

5. Humble myself voluntarily. Luke 14:11 

Jesus said in Luke 14:11 “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” The Bible teaches that we will all be humbled…You can voluntarily humble yourself, OR God can do it for you.

I’ve learned the hard way that when we’re proud, God will humble us. So I’ve put some safeguards in my life to keep me from the embarrassment that comes when God humbles us. I’ve adopted three disciples that I’ve been practicing for over a decade that help me keep my pride in check. Pride is not dead within me. I just keep it in check with these three disciplines.

  1. I try to never take the best seat at a table (sit at the head)
  2. I try to never take the best seat in a car. Jesus said in Luke 14:8-10 “…do not take the place of honor…take the lowest place…”
  3. I try to always share my own struggles with what I’m preaching on

I’ve found that doing these three things helps me to keep my pride in check. Sitting in the less prominent seat reminds me that I’m not #1, God is #1. Sharing my struggles reminds me that I don’t have it all together, only God has it all together.

How to Kill Pride Part 4: Serve Others Unselfishly

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In a previous post I’ve pointed out the destructive nature of pride in our lives. In this post I want to focus on the fourth of five ways we can practice humility and kill the pride in our lives.

4. Serve others unselfishly. 

Our culture says the way to be great is to have others serve you. Jesus says the way to be great is to serve others. Jesus said in Mark 10:43-44, “…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” This is so hard for me to get through to people because of the culture we live in. Our culture in America has been sending the message year after year “It’s all about you.” And so many people – so many Christian people – have believed the lie. So in pride, they get so caught up in their activities and their agenda that they have no time to give to God. But God doesn’t just want you to offer up your talent and treasure to him, he also wants you to offer your time as well. Only humble people see the value in serving others. Proud people have no time to make others the focus of their attention and concern.

At the heart of pride is an attitude that says “I’m more important than you.” There was a season of my life (namely the first year of the church) where in pride I viewed my schedule as busier than everyone else’s (I had no staff and so few volunteers at that time) and whatever I was working on (working to lead people to Christ) as more important than what others were doing. So on my way home everyday I would pass the huge line of cars on Rt 5 that were waiting their turn to get onto Rt 57 in Agawam. It would be a quarter mile long and I would pass everyone and then cut in right at the exit. That was me saying “I’m more important than all of you.”

Now I use that illustration, because that same attitude can infiltrate a church. When you don’t serve you’re basically saying “I’m more important than everyone else.”

  • Some don’t serve because they say “I’m really busy.” Newsflash! Everyone is busy! And it’s so prideful to think that what you’re doing is so important than you can’t break away long enough to serve a bit. Before moving away we had an executive at Bay State Hospital attending New Day. He and his whole family served every week even though he worked crazy hours. Some years ago we had the manager of a car dealership working 100 hours a week that would come to set up every Sunday morning. It’s so prideful to think that you are the only one with a busy schedule.
  • When you don’t serve you’re saying that others should serve you, but you’re too important to serve others. When you let others greet you, prepare snacks and coffee for you, watch your kids, prepare worship for you, and prepare a message for you…all so you can sit back and enjoy it all without contributing in any way – that’s selfish. That’s the typical proud American consumer mentality, not the humble Christlike contributor mentality.

Now I hope you’ll serve on Sundays – but don’t just serve on Sundays. Serve throughout the week too! This is a lifestyle things we’re going for here:

  • Serve your family. My grandfather on my dad’s side served my grandmother by filling her car with gas. He did such a good job doing this, that when he died she had to be taught how to do it because she had never done it before. Find a way to serve your spouse – it’s a way to practice humility.
  • Serve the people you work with (especially if you’re the boss). When you’re the boss it’s easy to think you’re too important to serve. After all, you hired others to work for you, not so you could work for them. But I would remind you of Jesus’ example. In John 13:3-5 we see Jesus, the boss, washing his disciples feet. He served them. Ask if your co-workers need help unloading their car. Ask if you can get them a coffee or drink from the fridge. Ask them if you can pick up something while you’re out. These are ways to practice humility.
  • Serve strangers. A couple months back I was at Donut Dip in West Springfield picking up some food for New Day Crew (the setup & teardown ministry here at New Day). There were two ladies that asked for a ride up the way. I not only got to give them a ride but also got to share the gospel – the good news that there’s peace with God through Jesus.

Why should we serve? It’s the ultimate act of humility and it’s the way of Christ. Philippians 2:5-7 says, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant…”

How to Kill Pride Part 3: Enjoy My Successes Gratefully

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In a previous post I’ve pointed out the destructive nature of pride in our lives. In this post I want to focus on the third of five ways we can practice humility and kill the pride in our lives.

3. Enjoy my successes gratefully. 

We need to be reminded to enjoy our successes gratefully because we will be tempted to enjoy our successes boastfully (pridefully). I build this business with my own two hands! Yeah – but where did you get your hands? I thought up this idea all on my own! Yeah – but where did you get your mind? All the time you have, all the energy you have, all the talent you have – it all comes from God. The apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 4:7 asks, “…What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?”

People love to boast don’t they? People love to share with others how awesome they are! And if anyone tries to share a success, our pride will always tempt us to one up them. But everyone will spend their lives in one of two ways – telling others how great they are or telling others how great God is. If you think you’re responsible for your successes, you will boast about them. You will tell everyone how great you are. But when you know the truth, that God is ultimately responsible, you will give thanks for your successes and tell everyone how great God is.

How to Kill Pride Part 2: Evaluate My Strengths Realistically

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In a previous post I’ve pointed out the destructive nature of pride in our lives. In this post I want to focus on the second of five ways we can practice humility and kill the pride in our lives.

2. Evaluate my strengths realistically. Romans 12:3 

We have to evaluate our strengths realistically. Romans 12:3 puts it this way “Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves…” The boxing great Mohammed Ali was on an airplane and wouldn’t fasten his seatbelt. The stewardess came up to him and asked him to buckle up. He said to her, “Superman don’t need no seat belt.” She looked at him and said, “Superman don’t need no airplane.”

Now don’t be confused here. 1) Humility is not denying your strengths. There are certain things I’m good at. There are certain things you are good at. Humility is not pretending as if this weren’t true. Humility isn’t denying your strengths, it’s admitting your weaknesses. 2) Humility is not putting yourself down all the time. “I’m nobody. I’m nothing. I’m no one important.” Saying things like this is not humility. That’s lying. You are somebody – you’re a child of God. You’re not nothing – you’re something because God paid Jesus for your redemption. You are important. God has chosen you to partner with Him in help people far from God come to know Jesus! So humility isn’t putting yourself down, it’s just not building yourself up (i.e. telling everyone how amazing you are all the time).

And be careful not to get caught up in the comparison game. If you evaluate your strengths in comparison with someone else, you always lose. Either you’ll find out the other person is doing better than you and you’ll be discouraged OR you’ll find out that you’re doing better than the other person and you’ll be filled with pride. Either way, you lose. I ran into a pastor I know about a month ago and he asked me “How many you running now?” This is such a dumb question to ask. Either I’m running more than him and he’s discouraged or he’s running more than me and he’s filled with pride. Either way, he loses.

When you compared yourself to others you always lose. So when you’re evaluating your strengths, don’t evaluate in comparison with others.

How to Kill Pride Part 1: Admit My Weaknesses Honestly

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In a previous post I’ve pointed out the destructive nature of pride in our lives. In this post I want to focus on the first of five ways we can practice humility and kill the pride in our lives.

1. Admit my weaknesses honestly.

When you confess your struggles to another person you’re saying “I don’t have it all together. I need help.” This is the opposite of pride. This is humbling yourself. And here’s the good news for those who do so. Proverbs 28:13 says “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes [because he’s too proud] can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance.” LB You can never be successful in overcoming your struggles and temptation on your own – but if you’ll swallow your pride and admit where you’re struggling – God has nothing but grace for the humble.

I remember several years ago a man in our church gave me a call and shared about his struggles with pornography. To me, this was the ultimate act of humility. He swallowed his pride and said “I need some help.” He admitted his weaknesses honestly. Well, the power of sin is in secrecy. He brought that sin into the light and as a result it lost some of it’s power. By the grace of God and online accountability, this person has been porn free for years now.

James 5:16 says “…confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” If you want forgiveness from your sins, confess them to God. But if you want healing from your sins, confess them to someone close that you trust. If you’ve never opened up to another person you trust about your struggles and temptations, this is a great way to practice humility and I’d encourage you to do that.