Humility…consists in an attitude wherein we recognize our own insignificance and unworthiness before God and attribute to Him the supreme honor, praise, prerogatives, rights, privileges, worship, devotion, authority, submission, and obedience that He alone deserves. It also involves a natural, habitual tendency to think and behave in a manner that appropriately expresses this attitude. In other words, that attitude of humility is always seen in humble action.
– Wayne A. Mack (with Joshua Mack)
in Humility: The Forgotten Virtue
Tag: Christianity
God’s Math Works Differently
Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
– Luke 21:1-4
God’s math works differently than ours. According to human math, the rich are obviously giving more. But according to God’s math, it is the widow who gives more. Consider further what God’s math looks like:
We never earn too little to give. The poor widow is unable to earn hardly any money, yet she gives. Human math may tell us we earn too little and discourage us from giving. But the widow frees us from seeing only through human eyes. She helps us see through God’s eyes. If she can give, then so can we.
God doesn’t despise small gifts. The rich are giving great sums of money. Human math would say that the widow’s gift is insignificant. God’s math says she gives more than all the others. We might despise her gift, but God values it. And he can use it. Human math may tell us our gift is too small. But God values and uses small gifts. What an encouragement for us!
God is more interested in percentages than amounts. The rich are giving much money, but a small percentage. The widow gives only two small coins but a hundred percent. Human math says the rich gave more. God’s math says the widow gave more. God sees the percentage. We may not have a large amount to give, but everyone can give a percentage. How encouraging!
God looks at the heart more than the gift. The widow doesn’t have to give, but she wants to give. Human math only sees the money, but God’s math cares more about the heart. What moves our hearts to give? The widow’s gift occurs during the week before Christ’s death for us. The widow could be seen as a type of Christ who became poor to give all that he had – his very life for us. The more we grasp his sacrificial gift, the more we will desire to sacrificially give to him.
The real issue isn’t giving, it’s trust. In giving all she has, the widow must trust in God to take care of her. One reason people struggle to give is that they trust in their money more than in God to take care of them. They follow human math, and forget God’s math. If we don’t trust God, we won’t give until we have more than we need. But God is well able to take care of us.
Christ’s return should motivate us to give. After observing the widow, Jesus begins to predict his return. We can invest our money in trinkets that will mean nothing when Christ returns, or we can invest our money in the kingdom that will last forever. Human math sees only this world. God’s math looks to eternity.
We can live like the rest of world using merely human math, or we can begin to see the world using God’s math. May God help us to see as he does.
Passion Points
Here are some good posts to ponder for your weekend reading:
Head and Heart – Jason Helopoulos
Truth and affection are essential for Christian maturity.
When Good Lives Are Bad News – Tim Chester
Beware of our tendency to try to be our own Savior.
How Does The Trinity Practically Apply To Your Life Today – Ryken/LeFebvre
The Trinity is more than a doctrine; the Triune God affects our daily lives.
On Your Face Before God, On Your Feet for His Mission – Trevin Wax
The greatness of God compels us to tell others.
A Christian Is A Person Who Cannot Be Conquered – Jared Wilson
When God is our all in all, we have nothing to lose.
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day celebrating our great God!
Pride Quotes To Ponder
At the root of all ingratitude is the love of one’s own greatness.
– John Piper
The great obstacle to seeking the Lord is pride.
– John Piper
To be proud is to be more like the devil than like Christ.
– J. C. Ryle
The devil is content that people should excel in good works,
provided he can but make them proud of them.
– William Law
The Humble Are Strong
Many think of humility as weakness. The humble are door mats that people walk all over.
Nothing could be further from the truth. It takes great strength to be humble.
Consider Jesus. It took great strength for Jesus to humbly submit to the Father’s plan for him to die on a cross. It took great strength for Jesus to humbly put our interests above his own to die for our sins. Proud self-indulgence would have run. Arrogant self-centeredness would have never come to Jerusalem, or to earth for that matter.
And so it is for us. It will take great strength to humbly submit to God’s plan for our lives. It will take great strength to humbly submit to God’s commands. It will take great strength to humbly serve the needs of others. Indeed we need the Spirit’s power at work in us, as he was at work in Jesus, to truly be humble.
The humble are strong.
Passion Points
How we treat children says a lot about our humility. Here are some helpful posts for parents and anyone who ministers to children:
How Do You Discern the Conversion of a Child? – Brian Croft
Teach Children the Bible Is Not About Them – Sally Lloyd-Jones
Children in Worship: Let’s Bring It Back – Jason Helopoulos
Children in Worship: Mom Tested Tips – Jason Helopoulos
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshipping the Lord! (And if you are a parent, I hope you have a great Lord’s Day helping your children worship the Lord!)
Humility Quotes To Ponder
Humility makes you disappear, which is why we avoid it.
-Paul Miller
We spend the whole of our lives watching ourselves.
But when a man becomes meek he has finished with all that.
– Martyn Lloyd Jones
Every good thing in the Christian life grows in the soil of humility.
– John Piper
Humility: The Example of Jesus
In the last post we looked at humility with others:
- We are all sinners, so I will not act morally superior to others.
- We are all valuable as God’s image-bearers, so I will not act as if I am more valuable than others.
- We are not gods but creatures, so I will not act as if the world revolves around me.
Then comes Jesus:
- He is not a sinner. He is holy. He is morally superior to others, but he doesn’t act like it. Instead he eats with and identifies with sinners. He identifies with us.
- He is God. As such, he is more valuable than others, but again he doesn’t act like it. He welcomes children, men, women, crowds, and disciples. He welcomes us.
- He is God, and so the world does revolve around him. But again, he doesn’t act like it. Instead he comes as a servant (Luke 22:24-30). The Creator serves his creation. He serves us.
If a holy greater God can humbly identify with, welcome, and serve sinful inferior creatures like us, how much more should we humbly identify with, welcome, and serve one another?
Humility with Others
Humility with others begins with a right recognition of who God is, who I am , and who others are. Here is a quick summary:
Who God Is Who I Am Who Others Are
God/Creator Not God / A Creature Not God / A Creature
Greater Have value Have value
Holy Sinner Sinner
From this right recognition should flow the right response:
I will not act as if I am morally superior to others (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee thought he was pretty good. As Christians we can think we are pretty good. But no matter how good I am, I am still a sinner. In God’s eyes, we are all sinners deserving judgment. I cannot act as if I am morally superior to others.
I will not act as if I am more valuable than others (Luke 18:15-17). The disciples didn’t think Jesus had time for children, but Jesus welcomed them. We all have the same value as image-bearers of God. I cannot think I am more valuable because of my age, gender, race, nationality, personal convictions, or anything else you want to come up with. We all have value in God’s eyes. I cannot act as if I am more valuable than others.
I will not act as if if the world (including others) revolves around me (Luke 20:45-47). Again the Pharisees acted as if the world revolved around them: look at me, honor me, be impressed with me. They acted like they were gods. Not that they would ever say such a thing, but that is how they acted. Too often so can we: selfish ambition, greedy for honor and praise, showing off, caught up with self, and the list goes on. But I am not God; I am only a creature. The world revolves around God, not me. I cannot act as though the world revolved around me.
May God help us to recognize our place in the universe and act accordingly.
Humbled
The blizzard hit Friday night. My power went out Saturday morning and didn’t come back until noon Monday. Some people are still without power. My phone service disappeared Saturday afternoon and didn’t come back until Monday morning. Needless to say, blogging was impossible. But the storm did make me think.
We can tend to be pretty impressed with our technological advancements, and yet with just a little snow God can make it all disapear for a few days. No running water, no computers, no electric lights, no phone. Melting snow to flush toilets. Using flashlights to see in the dark. Doing whatever we can to stay warm.
Maybe we just needed a little reminder that God is God and we are not. Maybe we just needed to be a little humbled.
