I want to stick with the topic of humility a little longer. We talked about it in yesterday’s Lent Devotional for Women post and although I’ve read articles, read sermons, quotes, entire books even, I don’t think we could ever exhaust the topic of humility.
First, remember I have an index page where all the Lent Devotional for Women posts are linked. This is a great page to share or pin. You can also sign up to receive the posts by email so you never miss a post.
Before we continue examining “humility” we need to properly define it. Once you read the definition below you’ll understand why a proper definition is necessary. You see, in our world right now, we have a skewed working definition of “humility.”
So, let’s get to the work of digging into this Lent Devotional for Women by looking at this definition for “humility” I came across on Urban Dictionary that I think is perfect! Yes, Urban Dictionary. And yes, perfect.
I think too often, or at least for me, I see humility as thinking lowly of myself or of emptying myself for the sake of being empty, when in reality, it’s having a “realistic appreciation” of my strengths and my weaknesses.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve got the lowly part down but maybe not so much the appreciation.
In our world today, especially in Christian circles, we’re taught to fear appreciating our own strengths because it can turn out to be a form of pride and vanity. So we stoop our shoulders, lower our eyes, and bow our heads. We focus on our faults, sins, and weakness instead. There is a happy middle ground friends!!! Yes, three exclamation marks, that’s how important that fact is!
I saw this quote on Instagram the other day that read, “You can think you’re awesome without thinking you’re better than anyone else.”
Humility, Holiness, & Being Mean to Ourselves
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Follow the money trail”? If we take a minute and follow this one, the origin of how humility and pride and vanity got all tangled up, we’ll find the source…dum! dum! dum!
See, if we spend our time picking ourselves to blessed pieces, all in the name of “humility”, the enemy has a pretty easy go at us. Really, he can move on to someone else because we are doing his dirty work for him. We’ve essentially defeated ourselves.
Please go back and read that again.
How many times do we tear ourselves down in the name of “humility” because we’re chasing “holiness,” when in reality, we’re just being mean to ourselves?
Oh! c’mon now! This is a good post that some of you need to read and re-read and then share with your mommas and your sisters and your best friends!!
Did you just feel that? I hit a nerve, didn’t I? Did your stomach flutter, your chest tighten, and your eyes feel a little misty?
There is a familiar Catholic prayer, a short one, called an ejaculation, that goes, “Jesus meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.” (I’ve written about using this little prayer as a foundation of some Daily Affirmations.)
When I consider humility in light of the above prayer, considering in that prayer I’m asking to be more like Jesus, there is absolutely no self-loathing.
Jesus knew who He was. Jesus knew what His mission was. Jesus knew He was loved unconditionally and by the Creator of the universe!
The enemy could not sway Him and even when he tried, our Lord responded with, “It is written…”
Do You Know Who You Are?
Do we know what is written about us? If we don’t, we better find out quickly! The best place to find out who we are is from the Creator Himself. Read your Bible. Start in the Psalms if you’re not sure where to start.
I’m offering you a free printable I made years ago. This printable hangs in both of our bathrooms. As a matter of fact, when we repainted our main bathroom I took this printable to the local office supply store and hand them blow it up to poster size, almost four feet tall! It hangs on the biggest and most prominent wall in the bathroom; you absolutely cannot miss this when you go into that bathroom!
How Does God Feel About Me Printable
This printable contains the truth of how valuable and worthy we are and I honestly don’t think the print can be too big or in too many places. I pray each of you downloads it and prints it off to hang in a prominent place or two or five.
Let me suggest hanging this printable where we can see it every day of our blessed and beautiful life. These aren’t my words, this is THE WORD. And when a false sense of humility attacks our desire for holiness, we can respond as Jesus, “It is written…”
I’d also like to invite you to join our Online Bible Study Community. We have a monthly Bible Study with a Scripture Writing Plan and reflection worksheets and we meet once a week in a live Facebook chat.
Read all the Lent Devotional for Women posts.
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