| “…For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” – Luke 18:14
The above verse can be maddening if you think on it too long. Please, don’t get the wrong idea. I love God’s Word. The verse is absolutely perfect in every way. The maddening is not a critique of the verse as much as it is my own deficiencies and inability to grasp it.
How about you…can I invite you into my madness?
If so, allow me to ask a simple question…
Ready…? Here goes…
“Are you humble?”
Wait, hold up! It’s probably best not to answer that. After all, how do we answer that? According the the verse, if we answer “No, we are not humble,” we indict ourselves. On the other hand, if we answer “Yes, we are humble,” well, I think you know what that means too. Either answer requires us to “buckle up,” and prepare for the humbling that’s promised to come our way. The question feels like a catch-22, doesn’t it? I want to be humble. But why? Is it so I will be exalted? And if that’s the reason then I guess I’m not very humble after all.
Humility is an elusive virtue. It’s highly desired but difficult to define. We know it when we see it, but it’s hard to grasp. In my experience, humility is something that I’m incapable of producing on my own. It’s not that it magically appears. It just seems that when we uproot the weeds of selfishness, the good fruit of humility grows in their place. Indeed, humility is a fruit of the Spirit. Or perhaps, it is the clearest evidence that the Spirit of God is bearing fruit within us.
This week, we will study the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Together we will learn how sincere faith produces true humility in us. This Parable is very straight forward but its implications are incredibly profound. I can’t wait to dig into it with you!
Pastor Jerry Lingenfelter
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