“Gratitude and generosity are most certainly fruits of humility.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today –August 11, 2023
With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2…Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3, KJV
Gratitude and generosity are most certainly fruits of humility. Think about those whom you know who are humble of heart, not looking to be the center of attention, but those who look to help others. When you reflect on these other-centered friends, aren’t you attracted to the almost effortless manner in which they celebrate God’s blessings with gratitude…and how they express their gratefulness by seeking to be a blessing to others…generosity. So refreshing and attractive! Such are the generous expressions of a humble, grateful life. A close look at the lifestyle of Jesus is able to quickly assess his intentional manner of going out of His way to show the way to those lost, confused, and neglected. Jesus gave glory and gratitude to His Father and, out of this humble attitude, sought to serve and love others, so they might give glory and gratitude to God.
Paul opens Ephesians 4:2 with a call for humility…a humble heart is the foyer of a life that flows into the other inviting rooms of gentleness, patience, and love. This verse could be a commentary on the opening words of Jesus’ most famous sermon in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” Humility is the sermon introduction and serves as the foundation to build on our Lord’s most challenging teachings of turning the other cheek, praying for and loving our enemies, and the sanctity of marriage, just to name a few of His famous words. Jesus’ greatest hits (teachings), without the melody of humility, can feel burdensome and unachievable but lived out with generous humility, are life-changing and compelling for Christ.
Alexander MacLaren beautifully elevates the essential nature of being poor in spirit as the first and foundational beatitude to the Sermon on the Mount,
To be poor in spirit is to be in inmost reality conscious of need, of emptiness, of dependence on God, of demerit; the true estimate of self, as blind, evil, weak, is intended; the characteristic tone of feeling pointed to is self-abnegation… Christ begins His portraiture of a citizen of the kingdom with the consciousness of want and sin. All the rest of the morality of the Sermon is founded on this. It is the root of all that is heavenly and divine in character. So, this teaching is dead against the modern pagan doctrine of self-reliance and really embodies the very principle for the supposed omission of which some folk like this Sermon, namely, that our proud self-confidence must be broken down before God can do any good with us, or we can enter His kingdom.
Humility first gives 100% to God.
I read this moving story recently describing a generous, humble, and gentle soul:
One hot afternoon on a beach, people noticed a young girl drowning. They quickly rescued her. The little girl was unconscious. An old man from a nearby cottage hurriedly reached for the girl lying down on the seashore. As the old man was about to hold the girl, a furious guy warned the people surrounding the girl to step aside, including the old man.
“I was trained to do CPR. Stay out of this! Let me do it!” the guy exclaimed.
The old man stood up and stepped behind the guy, and watched quietly while the latter was performing CPR for the girl. After almost a minute, the little girl regained consciousness. The people around them felt relieved and began applauding the guy. The old man, who looked very happy, gratefully congratulated the guy as well. After two hours, however, the guy who saved the girl suddenly felt too much fatigue, experienced difficulty in breathing, and became unconscious. A few minutes later, he woke up in an ambulance, rushing him to the nearest hospital. Beside him was the old man he saw earlier at the beach, now checking his pulse rate. The old man did CPR on him while he was unconscious. This time he learned that the old man was a doctor. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re a doctor?” he asked.
The doctor just smiled and answered: “It doesn’t matter to me whether you call me a doctor or not. A precious life was in danger. I became a doctor not for fame but to save lives. We had the same goal, and that was to save the girl. Nothing can surpass the feeling that you have just saved another life. There’s a lot of things to be protected other than our ego.”
Yes, we all grow in humility when we are gentle and patient, bearing one another in love!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, give me a generous heart of humility to live and patiently bear up others in love through Christ’s love and in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Application
Whom do you admire who is poor in spirit, who you can spend time with and learn from?
Related Reading
2 Chronicles 7:13-14; Proverbs 11:2, 22:4; Luke 14:7-11; Romans 12:16
Worship Resource
Becca Bradley: Till I Found You
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