Humility Is Key...Use What You Have For Others

Amos 6:6-8 - You drink wine by the bowlful, and you perfume yourselves with exotic fragrances, caring nothing at all that your nation is going to ruin.  Therefore, you will be the first to be led away as captives. Suddenly, all your revelry will end.  The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his own name, and this is what he, the LORD God Almighty, says: "I despise the pride and false glory of Israel, and I hate their beautiful homes. I will give this city and everything in it to their enemies."

 

Amos was given  specific word for the richest in Israel. They laid around on their luxurious beds….ate the richest of food available…bought costly perfumes…and drank wine by the bowlful.  They used their resources merely to please themselves. The more they achieved…the more the flaunted it to the people around them.  God despised the attitude of pride and false glory they had developed.  He said they were stupid to rejoice in how great they had become.

 

It is just one of the many scriptures that warn us pf the dangers of pride…of believing we are greater than others around us simply because we own more ‘things.’ Proverbs 29:23 was the first to come to mymind….it says….. “pride goeth before a fall.” But a quick google search brought up many more.  There was the ’thorn’ that Paul mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12:7. And one other really good one is the great words of john in 1 john 2:16….that tell us our lust for materials things is of the world…not of God.

 

God wants to give us good things…not have us acquire them of our own accord.  God wants the character trait of humility to shine brighter in our lives than any need to be great…or have great things.  He tell us in James 4:6 that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. And Paul tells us in Philippians 2:3 to always count others as more important than ourselves. 

 

When we follow this great advice from God’s chosen apostles…we begin to understand why Jesus walked this earth in as humble a fashion as possible.  He was modeling for us how to be so humble that what God wants for our lives is more important that what the world thinks about us. It was his humility that allowed him to keep his focus on the most important things…and give glory to God for anything he was blessed to be a part of that was good for others.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to work on my humility.  Forgive me for all the times that I expect things for myself without thinking of the needs of others.  Help me to focus more on you …soI can begin to be more humble.  Show me how you meant for me to use all the resources you gave me to bless others in my life.  Amen.