Humility and what it looks like to me....

A true story about humility that tought me a valuable lesson

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Good morning, listeners. This is Cindy Shaw coming to you live from beautiful Tennessee. It's a nice rainy day, which we desperately need. Um today we're going to talk about humility and the different aspects of it, and I'm going to tell you something. I have tried to do this podcast now four times. And there's a funny story behind it. Uh, we have a camper and we have a washer-dryer combination, and we turned it on, and it literally shipped the camper so much that the computer and the microphone were shaking all over the place, so we had to stop. And then another time, I don't know what I did, but it became a disaster. And uh it's just been one thing after another. It was like God just wasn't allowing me to be ready yet to do it. So I guess I had to keep tweaking it until it was correct. So maybe he's trying to teach me patience as well as humility. And that's something we just can't pray for. So here we go on humility this morning. I had a listener write in, and uh she was one of my ex-husband's previous wives. She sent me the most humbling apology, and it said, Mrs. Cindy, I am very sorry for the part that I played in your hurt and sorrow. I was unaware and lied to as well. I really enjoy your podcasts and look forward to each one. May God bless you and give you the desires of your heart. Well, I wrote her back after I was done sobbing like a baby, because I had known she had already accepted Christ. I also had forgiven her a long time ago, and I knew it wasn't her fault, but she needed to know that as well. Because you see, you don't always need an apology from someone to forgive them. And I knew it wasn't her fault. I knew it was his. He lied to us both. It was ridiculous. As I stayed, started thinking about my next podcast, I couldn't get how humble she was out of my mind. And as I started to put pen to paper, I realized I didn't apologize to her. I bet she was hurt just as bad as I was. After all, she was lied to as well as I was. And at that moment, I put my pen down, I text her. I wasn't near as humble as she was. I'm of course not going to tell you who she is by name, but I will tell you, I knew I was finally doing the right thing, and it felt really good. Sometimes it's easy to preach and hard to do. So this is what I wrote. Dearest friend, I'm sorry it took me so long to say this, but as I've thought about what you've said to me, I'm so impressed with your humility and honesty. But truly, I also need to apologize to you as well. At the end of the day, I'm sure we were both being used as pawns in his twisted mind games on alcohol and drugs. We became much stronger and better people in the long run. God always had a plan for us. I pray nothing but the best for you always in keeping you in my prayers. On a side note, if this is the only comment I ever receive again, it would be enough. I never went into doing this expecting someone to help me or anything like this. This wasn't my plan of a podcast to do, but this is what God had me do. I've helped listeners and answered many different types of questions from how I met my husband to helping them find Christ. But God sent me an angel that day. He sent someone to help me. I never expected it. I never expected to send a letter to someone to help them the way they helped me. I never expected to have someone with so much humility and so much grace and forgiveness that it touched me so. I just want to say thank you to her. I know you're listening. And yes, you taught me a valuable lesson. One can never be too humble. So as I wept, I decided to study up a bit on humility and what it should and shouldn't look like. Let's talk about promised outcomes and benefits of humility. Grace and exaltation. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, promising to exalt them in due time. James 4, 6. And he gives grace generously, as the scriptures say. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Wisdom and honor. Humility is linked with wisdom, riches, and honor. In Proverbs 11:2, pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Then there's salvation. The Lord delights in and saves the humble. Humility begins with admitting spiritual bankruptcy. The state Jesus described as blessed in Matthew 5.3. God blesses those who are poor and realizes their need for Him, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. They're service-oriented. Rather than seeking recognition, humble individuals serve others and consider others' needs for their own. In Philippians 2, 3 through 4. Don't be selfish, don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out for only your own interests, but take an interest in others too. Their godly perspective. It involves not thinking of oneself more highly than one ought, but having a sober judgment. And in Romans 12, 3 it says, Because of the privilege and authority 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. So, what does a person look like that has no humility? They're definitely not one with biblical humility and defined as meekness, lowliness of mind, and absence of self-seeking pride with Jesus Christ as the ultimate example. This person values self above others. They say things that hurt others, and it just flows out naturally and self-effortlessly. They are very self-serving. Biblical humility is not just a polite demeanor, but a complete voluntary surrender of pride and obedience to God. And until you do this, God will never bless you with what you're seeking, for you're not humble enough to realize it. If you have it or if you've had it or would appreciate it. God hears humble pleas, like King Joshua, is spared from disaster for those who didn't keep God's law, because your heart was tender, and you have humbled yourself before me and wept before me. I also heard you, declares the Lord, in 2 Chronicles 34, 27. Like I said, I'm not doing this podcast due to a listener's comment to me, which I will keep anonymous. I'm also doing it for myself because I need some humility. She sent me the most heartfelt loving apology I have ever in my life received. She owed me absolutely nothing. I never expected an apology, but I thought that was without doubt the most humbling, unselfish, graceful apology ever. When she asked me to forgive her, my response to her was, I had forgiven her a long time ago. You see, you can forgive someone without them apologizing. Not for them, but for yourself. But her humbleness literally brought tears to my eyes. As my husband, Pastor Troy, was in the truck with me when I received the text. I then read it to him as he knew the backstory and said that meant a lot to you. I said more than you could possibly imagine as I dried the tears off from my face. You see, it also put closure to it, and it may help put closure to somebody else's problem. I appreciated that apology more than you could possibly imagine. Those that aren't humble are those that can't and never apologize or take responsibility for anything they say or anything they do, regardless of how hurtful it may be. Are you married to someone, or do you have a partner or a friendship, and they do all the apologizing and the other never takes any responsibility or they say they are never sorry? God calls those who refuse to apologize or take any responsibility prideful, stating they cannot prosper or experience true success, according to Proverbs 28:13. While they may hide their sins for a time, they face ultimate consequences and hinder their relationship with God, though they are urged to repent, to receive mercy and a fresh start. The problem of pride, failure to apologize, is seen as rooted in pride, which brings strife and prevents spiritual growth. Lack of prosperity. Scripture states that those who conceal their transgressions rather than confessing and abandoning them will prosper. Now, this doesn't mean you become the apologizer, of course, while the other sits there and expects you to do so, because they never think they should apologize, even when they're wrong. But you want the argument just to end. So you apologize just to move forward. But truly the only thing you're doing is bottling everything up inside, and eventually it will explode, and nothing good comes out of the relationship, whether it's a friendship, whether it's a marriage, or whether it's a partnership. And nothing good will come out of it. Nothing. These always, there will always be distance at some level, trust issues at some level. The apologizer is just as bad then. And someone has to take accountability. And what's accountability? Well, they may avoid responsibility on Eric, God holds everyone accountable, and they will face him with their confessed actions. So then these are then called to repentance. The Bible urges individuals to take responsibility as admitting mistakes brings another chance and spiritual cleansing. This isn't just to God, although that's important, it's to one you've been consistently hurting. So, how to handle those who don't apologize? Just forgive them for your sake. Even if they don't apologize, you are encouraged to forgive them to free yourself from bitterness. Christians are encouraged to trust God as the ultimate judge and to return good for evil. You can pray for them to humble themselves as change is possible through God's help, but never put yourself in a position where it becomes unhealthy. Everyone has limits. Go to your pastors for counseling or get marriage counseling. If it's a friendship that doesn't change, sometimes it's best to walk away. But sometimes God intervenes and they change, so give them a second chance. Proverbs 28:13, whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. 1 John 1, 8 through 10 warns that denying our sinfulness or failure to confess makes us deceive ourselves. John himself was not the light. He was simply a witness to tell about the light, the one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He came into this very world, created, but the world didn't even recognize him. Could you possibly imagine? I mean, I'd be blown away. Luke 17, 3 through 4 emphasizes the importance of repentance for restoration. So watch yourselves. If another believer sins, rebuke that person. Then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks for forgiveness, you must forgive them. Remember, it's those that don't ask that will have to answer to someone much higher. Philippians 2, 3 through 8. The call to adopt the humble mindset of Christ. James 4 10, humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up. Micah 6 8, the requirement to walk humbly with your God. Peter 5, 5 and 6. Clothe yourselves with humility as God opposes the proud. Here's a little funny story that kind of helps with the humility part. So can you imagine walking into the Buckingham Palace totally unnoticed and without knocking on the door as if you lived there and did this every day. You kicked off your shoes, you sat down right next to Majesty Your Queen of England and said, Man, I just had a bad day. My truck broke down, I have a flat tire on that, five bucks in my pocket. I put that in my gas tank. I walk all the way here. I am pooped. You know, I mean, he's just making himself at home. You can just imagine, you know, like a regular guy. Such an image is almost absurd. There's a protocol to seeing royalty, to seeing presidents, rules to follow, background checks, and don't forget the security. Oh my, the security. That there is a royal throne we can always approach without fear or hesitation or any proper etiquette. It has no security, no background checks, no payments, no locks, no guards, and no restrictions. Its occupant is God. It is the God of all creation, and he is so very excited to hear about your days, ups and downs. Have you ever just talked to him like I'm talking to you right now? Hey, Father, what's happening? I've had this kind of day today, and it's been rough. You've derailed my entire day. Why? Talk out loud, just like I'm talking to you. In your car, in your truck, in your home, the kitchen, the garage, a shower, whether you're hiking, when your feet hit the floor first thing in the morning, do you say to him, Thank you, Father? No matter what you have in store for me today, I'm gonna face it today because it's all in your will. I had to do that yesterday with my husband. We had a very regimented schedule yesterday, all calendared out. I went and gave my blood tests in the morning. I scheduled, I went and had my pedicure. We were coming home, we were going to the eye doctors. Well, I gave my blood test, was getting my pedicure, I get a phone call. I had to get right back to the hospital within the hour, and I had to get a transfusion for four hours. He sat there with me and left the house, even though he's in pain, and it's getting ready to go for back surgery. That is what you call support and humility and love. But it's also all in God's will. He may have prevented us from having an accident. But when our feet hit the floor, I said, I know it's all in your will. So yes, I'm I was late, and my everything changed, and that's okay. But have you ever said, Yes, I'm late, but did I avoid that traffic accident? God always has a plan. Thank him at night before your eyes close. Nothing is too big or too small for him. He would rather have the biggest of sinners. Of course, even when you're saved, especially as a new Christian, Satan wants to attack. Why? Because he's lost another battle. Come on. What do you have to lose today? A little bit of grace and humility? I think not. I think you'll gain way more than you could possibly imagine. I think people think that when they get saved, they're going to lose that humility or grace. They sit in a church and they listen, but they're afraid to go in front of the congregation. The minute you go up there and you accept Christ, it changes you. But the minute you're baptized, it's a fresh start, and everything is new. You've left everything behind. Approach the throne shamelessly. Pull up a chair and lift your voice to him. He loves your company. What do you need? Go ahead and ask him without fear. What gifts is he given? Talk to him in person. What guidance are you looking for? His wisdom is yours if you will listen and accept and believe and confess. And if you need help with this, you can message me. I can respond back now on the messaging and then the comment section. Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There will we receive his mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4 16. If you need help accepting Christ, text me, please. Humility is a gift when given and a heavy weight to carry if you don't. If you've wronged someone in the past and you haven't apologized, please do so. If I'd wronged someone, or if I've wronged you in the past and I haven't apologized, I'm very sorry for any harm or pain I may have inflicted upon you. No, it was never intentional and with malice. I pray you've all forgiven me for my past sins, for no one is perfect except for one. I also pray that this humbled somebody as much as it humbled myself. I thank you all for listening as usual. I'd like to close us in prayer today. Father, thank you so much for allowing me to do these podcasts, and thank you so much for a wonderful husband. I give you all the glory. Thank you for another beautiful day with my husband, Pastor Troy. Please continue to watch over him as he's getting ready to go into back surgery. And please give me the words for my next podcast. Thank you for giving me the words and filling my heart with your message. Thank you for glorifying me with more humility, grace, mercy, and forgiveness, and love than I've ever had. I pray that you've guided me to correct all my wrongs. Please continue to protect my family and watch over Pastor Troy and all my listeners. I pray all this in your heavenly name, Father. Amen. I hope everybody has a very blessed day. This is Cindy Shaw, signing off from beautiful Tennessee. Thank you for listening.