Oh, Paul! Did you know when you wrote these words that they were timeless? As the Spirit of Almighty God guided your mind and hand, did you realize that the words would be completely relevant in 2020? Since you knew that Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun, I guess it’s possible.
Here we are, living in the 21st century and find ourselves using more and more time and energy to impress others. We desperately want to be liked, loved, and chosen. All while looking down our noses at *them* because they don’t measure up to the standard we’re trying to achieve.
Believer, it’s time to stop this. And please, don’t say you can’t. If God put the words in the Book, we CAN do them.
The New Century Version of this verse says, “When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves.”
God knows the human heart and the motives deep inside, even when we don’t realize what is moving us to behave as we do. If we will continually seek Him, He will show us those motives and guide our thoughts and actions.
We all want the best for ourselves. We want to know and be known, to love and be loved, to have ease and comfort, health and wellbeing, happiness and joy.
It’s when we push our agenda through by contentiousness, strife, selfishness, for unworthy ends prompted by conceit and empty arrogance that we choose to walk into sin. God says that instead we are to have a lowliness of mind that sees ourselves on the same level as the most low as well as the most high.
No, He is not saying we are less than others. He is saying that as we do things, as we love and help others, we are to have the mindset of giving them more honor than what we give ourselves. (Proverbs 27:2) We love and take care of ourselves and value others. If Jesus could do it, y’all, surely we can.
Let’s try this today: Let’s corral our thoughts and direct them instead of letting them drive us. Let’s choose to honor others more than we honor ourselves. Then let’s do it again tomorrow and all the the days after. Won’t God be pleased when we do?!?
Coffee, Bible, Journal.
