Bible Study:
Hosea 6, 1 to 6. Luke 18, 9 to 14.
If you
have been taking this period of lent seriously, I am very sure you must have
made significant progress in your spiritual life. Today, Jesus wants you to
know that holiness or spirituality should never become a reason to boast or
become proud by rating yourself higher than other people.
Two men
went to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee
prayed to himself, not to God, he gave an account of his good deeds and condemned
others. But the tax did not even lift up his eyes to heaven, yet because of his
humility, heaven itself bowed low to listen to him.
It is very
important to note that whatever progress you have made amounts to nothing if
you lack the virtue of humility. What does it mean to be humble? Does it mean
looking down on yourself? No! Does humility mean accepting insults freely from
others? No! Does humility mean pretending to be senseless or acting a clown?
No!
To be
humble is not a matter of downgrading yourself or denying your gifts. Rather,
humility is having the consciousness that your gifts are from God and their presence
is an indication of God’s presence in you. Humility is coming to terms with the
fact that whatever good deed you have ever done and whatever act of holiness
you may have achieved is a direct intervention of God in your life.
Humility is
being able to “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to
God.” In this case, you are able to see that left to yourself, you would be
worse than any sinner you can ever imagine on earth. That you are able to
overcome even the slightest temptation is not by your own power, it is God
himself working in you.
So when
you see people misbehaving, falling again and again into sin, you dare not look
down on them, instead you become more humble knowing that left to your own
human strength, you wouldn’t have been able to do better. When you see or hear
the sins of others, first tell yourself that you are more than capable of doing
worse things if not for God working in you. This should simple move you to pray
for their conversion and thank God for his graces enabling you to avoid sin.
Humility is
a sacrifice; a sacrifice more pleasing to God than tens of thousands of fat
rams and bulls. It is not all that easy to be humble or to say “I am sorry, it
is my fault”. People always find it very difficult to see anything wrong in
what they do, they tend to blame everyone else as responsible just like Adam
and Eve did. It makes God happy to know that one is able to acknowledge his sins
and God never turns away a humbled contrite heart.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, teach me to be humble and never look down at anybody. Amen.
God bless
you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy
Weekend.
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