“By the Grace of God I Am What I Am”
“By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace
toward me was not in vain…”
1 Corinthians 15:10
The
way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator.
To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked
us. Get into the habit of examining from God’s perspective those things that
sound so humble to men. You will be amazed at how unbelievably inappropriate
and disrespectful they are to Him. We say things such as, “Oh, I shouldn’t claim
to be sanctified; I’m not a saint.” But to say that before God means “No Lord,
it is impossible for you to save and sanctify me; there are opportunities I
have not had and so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t
possible.” That may sound wonderfully humble to others, but before God it is an
attitude of defiance.
Conversely, the things
that sound humble before God may sound exactly the opposite before people. To
say, “Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified,” is in God’s eyes the purest
expression of humility. It means you have so completely surrendered yourself to
God that you know He is true. Never worry about whether what you say sounds
humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to
be your all in all.
There is only one relationship
that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal
Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else
go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of
priceless value to God’s purposes, and yours may be that life.
November 30th
Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. Discovery
House Publishers, 1995. Print.
Hmmm...my sister and I call this humility "humble pie"...but I guess I never really thought about it that much...very thought provoking!
ReplyDelete-- Bethany
P.s. I couldn't help but notice the beautiful citing of the work at the end of the post. It took me two weeks to figure out how to cite a text for a research paper. ;)
Hello Grace,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by (and for noticing my citation!). I do dislike doing them but I always feel so . . . so professional and ethical. Almost as if I was some sort of book editor (sigh, dream job). :)
God bless you!
Frannie