humility...

something God has been teaching me a LOT lately...i have definitely been through a process, and humility might be the most important lesson i have learned (or have been learning) so far...

it's awesome to see God's answer to prayer in so many little ways...one thing that i have really desired, is to just be REAL...in every area, and He is definitely bringing me into that.
i learned a different meaning of the word humility last week...our teacher Vinny was speaking on new hearts, and she defined humility as "letting others see you for who you really are". i kinda wondered about that, just because i always had a different view of humility..so i looked into it a little further, and this is really what came out of it...

so...humility is the quality or condition of being humble. the word humble means to be marked by meekness or modesty in behaviour, attitude or spirit; not arrogant or prideful, or a lack of false pride. another definition for pride is distainful, and to distain means to tinge or taint with a different colour from the natural or proper one. so when broken down, humility is being humble in the sense that we know who we are, and where we stand in relation to others, allowing ourselves to see us that way, and avoid hiding our true colours...

i really believe this is KEY to living a MOST EFFECTIVE life. we need to walk in humility in relationship with God, interacting with others, and the way we see ourselves. there MUST be consistency in our lives...it must be reflected in all areas of relationship.

philippeans 2:3-5 instructs us, "don't be selfish; don't try and impress others. Be humble and think of others as better than yourself. don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too. [We] must have the attitude of Christ..." this is important in how we relate to EVERYONE in life. living this and walking it out in LOVE is probably more effective in ministry than any words we could every use...

there are different references in proverbs that speak about fearing the Lord, and how humility precedes honour. in 1 peter it also says that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. He favours the humble. He will bless us, and raise up those who truly seek Him in humility, in honour. we need to go to God with expectancy, and boldly as His children, but we need to also ALWAYS recognize who HE is and who WE are...

humility brings unity in relationships. in putting others before ourselves, and walking in love and humility, we are able to grow into deeper levels of relationship. knowing what is truly on each others hearts gives a better understanding of our actions and behaviours. we can then be more supportive in the things that we do, in accompaniment...

humility is a form of spiritual warfare. the one HUGE thing the devil wants to do is feed lies into our head. he will take any situation he can and try and use it against us. some of us have things in our lives and our past that we have never shared with others. society dictates that people, especially christians must have it all together, and if we don't, we need to at least act like we do..we push down and hide the areas of our lives that are not as perfectly put together as we would like them to be. satan uses those areas. he even makes us believe that our secrets (which are usually the lies he's been feeding us) are too shameful, and too horrible to reveal to others. and the opposite should actually be true. if we keep those things secret, we let them eat away at us, and allow him to control that part of our lives. in confessing these things aloud, and let others see that part of us, we not only have their support to deal with it, we are exposing Satan's lies for what they are, and revoking his control in the situation...words are SO powerful and we can have serious effect on the spiritual warfare around us by just walking in humility, and honesty in who we are, and what we are going through. so crucial!

humility represents reality. it denounces hypocrisy. as christians we are responsible in showing people what it looks like to live in true relationship with Christ...this means walking a life that is honest and open to who we are. most people don't usually have a problem with God, or even Jesus...their problems and hard feelings usually stem from the way the church portrays it all. we tend to show a double sided reality, even though our intentions may not be to do that. many of us advise people the way we SHOULD be living, but can't seem to quite walk in that truth. the world has this view of christians that is completely wrong. people usually think that christians see of themselves better than others, and live a false life, when in reality, we are just falling under the lie and the pressure that we have to have it all together. for some reason we feel like we can not be weak, or even exposed in the slightest way to others. SO FALSE! walking in humility will be effective in showing others that it is a REAL RELATIONSHIP...it's not about religion. people want authentic. they want the real deal. and only when we approach others in humility is the REAL DEAL emphasized in our lives...that's when people will start to see the truth and reason behind the hope we have in Christ. that's when people will begin to see something different about us, and our lives. this will stir something. it will create a deeper desire for the same relationship with Jesus...james 2:14 talks about faith without actions, but i believe we can take this in the context that if we expect to show our faith and reveal Christ to others, we must be willing to live in humility. it is in the act of walking in humility that will level the playing field, open people up, and reveal the TRUTH to their hearts...

so yeah. this is something that God has been laying on my heart, and bringing deeper revelation of each day...so i hope that it will speak to some of you as well.

one cool little side note, is that when Donna Jordan was speaking on hearing the voice of God, we had a time to pray for people and get a word from God for them...one of the things spoken over me (before all of this) was that God loved my willingness for humility, and that He was going to be the foundation of all that He had for me...so in going through all of this, and having this revelation, i have seen the start of something:)