Humble Yourself.

Proverbs 3:34 declares, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Proverbs 29:23 declares, “Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.”

Romans 12:3 declares, “Because of the privilege and authority that God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.”

James 4:10 declares, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor.”

John 15:5 declares, “Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me, you can do nothing.”

2 Timothy 2:21 declares, “If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special vessel for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.”

“Who are YOU? You are who you are because of ME. The people are drawn to you because of MY Spirit within you. You are able to be effective in ministry because of ME. You are MY vessel. You are because I AM.” After hearing these words, I completely sobered up and was immediately humbled as Holy Spirit had checked me in my selfish and prideful state. Let’s Talk!

According to the AI Overview, to humble yourself means “to recognize your dependence on God, shed pride and ego, submit your will to His, and serve others, rather than seeking self-importance”. The phrase is also defined as “a heart posture of lowliness before God”. God has been using me in so many ways to engage with people, to encourage people, to uplift people, and to pray for people. He continues to give me new insight, new strategies, and new ways of delivering what He would have for me to say. He has increased my capacity related to serving people tremendously this year. He continues to impart wisdom as I study the Bible and dedicate myself to a lifestyle of prayer. He has used me to say just what someone needed to hear, at “just the right time”, and many times after they had “been praying about this”. I have listened to so many intimate and vulnerable moments from people that I could have never imagined would be seeking a listening ear or guidance from me. I had began to think, “Why are these people coming to me? Why do they trust me? What is it about me?” And in that sobering, humbling moment, God reminded me exactly why. It was and will never be due to me, but it was and will always be due to HIM!

Friend, somewhere along the line, I allowed pride to creep into my heart. How dare I give myself a measure of God’s credit? I KNOW that none of what I do is due to myself or my abilities (John 15:5). If not for God’s Spirit working through me, none of what I have written would have occurred (2 Timothy 2:21). I am who I am, live the way that I live, do the things that I do because of HIM. Let me go a little further: I am alive, able to read, able to articulate, able to work in my career field, able to be a mother, able to serve, able to speak, etc. because of GOD, His power, and His Sovereignty. So as Paul warned in Romans 12:3, I dare not think too highly of myself again; for God opposes the proud and humiliation is sure to come to the proud (Proverbs 3:34, Proverbs 29:23).

Friend, I encourage you to evaluate your heart, mind, and soul for any seeds of pride that may be present. Begin to pray that God expose any seeds of pride, arrogance, haughtiness, boasting, and any other unclean seeds which may be contaminating your heart. Submit yourself to Holy Spirit’s heart purification process as God desires for you to be an honorable vessel for HIS use. Ttyl!