Encouraging Word

Intro
Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with an encouraging word for your day. In the coming season, I will be spending several weeks on the subject of Loving Like Jesus. Last year, I did 7 weeks of concentrated study on our own love project, which encouraged us to walk in love, and exhibit the 7 main characteristics of a loving person. So as a review and follow up, we are going to spend this week being encouraged and motivated to walk in love and demonstrate love as a way of life. Together we can make love a way of life, and positively change our world. Here is encouraging word about humility for today.

Monday
This week we will be looking at the characteristic of humility as one of the foundations for making love a way of life. How can you be encouraged to be humble? The Bible does tell us to humble ourselves before God, and in due season he will lift us up. So asking God to humble us isn’t the right way to go about it. We are to humble ourselves. Humbling yourself becomes something that we can do when look at this definition by Gary Chapman in his book, Love as a way of life. He says a new definition of humility is a peacefulness of heart that allows you to stand aside in order to affirm the value of someone else. I think all of us long for that peacefulness of heart! I know that there is a peace in God that the world doesn’t know about or even understand. It is something that goes beyond our natural comprehension. Because from the world’s perspective, we think peace comes from the outside in. From what we know as believers, we know that peace and any real change in our life only comes from the inside out. So instead of standing up and making ourselves look good, we do the opposite. We stand aside in order to affirm the value of someone else. We give them the opportunity to tell their story. We let them shine. In fact we can shine our light on them. When people feel valued, significant things can happen in life. Potential is increased, value is added and spirits are lifted. When we can help someone else feel valued, we are making love a way of life. And that is out goal. Let’s really live this out. Let’s put it into practice and be who we say we are! We are disciples of Jesus Christ, and the world will know us by the love that we show. So, instead of trying to get all the attention for ourselves, we are giving it away, and letting other people shine. That is an act of humility, and that is one way we can make love a way of life.

Tuesday
We are looking at humility this week and an excellent scripture about humility is in Phil 2:3, 4. It says Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others. The next verses go on to say, our attitude should be like that of Christ! When you think about the humility of Jesus, coming to earth, becoming like us , so that he could take our place, I can’t help but think about the great example he put forth. He was love defined, and became humble to show how far His love would go. It would go to the garden of Gethsemane, up the hill of Golgotha, to the place of the skull, where he was crucified, and then to the depths of hell to triumph over the devil and his demons on their turf. Then he blew out of the grave, and rose again from the dead, all because of love. His demonstration of love to step down, so that we could step up, was the ultimate act of humility. Loving us required sacrifice on Jesus’ part. He was willing to do that not just to enhance our lives, but to give us the opportunity to receive his gift of salvation, and become a new person, and receive all that he died to give us. When we look at the demonstration of love, how Jesus demonstrated love as a way of life, we see that humility is a necessary ingredient. We can do like he did. When we choose to step down, so that someone else can step up, we are choosing the way of love. We are saying we value someone else enough to help them to go to their next level. We want to be that kind of encourager in someone else’s life. As we begin this week, think of some ways you can demonstrate humility that is proof of love working in your life. Shine your light on someone else, and make them look good. Jesus did that for us, let’s do that for others!

Wednesday
When we are making love a way of life, it is important that we acquire the habit of humility. How can humility be a habit? Just like any other habit we acquire, we make a determination that when given the opportunity we will give attention to someone else, instead of bringing it back to us. We can begin doing this as whenever we feel like we are wanting attention, by changing our attitude and asking someone a question about themselves, and then sincerely paying attention to their answer. Sometimes we can be so self centered that we think the world revolves around us, and our lives. Here’s a news flash!!!! IT DOESN’T! As much as we think everyone should put our needs first, we really are not any more important that the other 6 billion people on the planet! Who do we think we are? I know that may sound harsh, but to live in humility, like our greatest example ever, Jesus, we have to quit thinking so much about ourselves, are really begin to think about others. How can I help someone else? How can I be a blessing to my spouse? How can I let my kids know how much I value them? Those kinds of questions get our mind off of us. One of the lines in one of my husband’s songs says just that….get your mind off of yourself, and on to somebody, else, show them Jesus, by living to give. We could change the words for this week, and say, show them Jesus, by loving through humility. Sometimes, we need to look even further, and say there is a needy world out there that doesn’t have what I have, doesn’t know what I have access to knowing, and hasn’t heard about this wonderful loving God that I serve, and humility will take us out of our comfort zone, and lead us to serve someone. It could be in our own neighborhood, or it could be across the globe. Let’s be the ones who affirm others. Let’s be the ones who step aside in order to affirm the value of the people around us. Let’s be the ones who step down, so that someone else can step up. That’s humility and that is love in action!

Thursday
Part of humility is just being aware of those around us. Keeping our eyes open, and recognizing the needs of others can be an act of true humility. When we set aside our own concerns and consider what it might be like to be in another person’s place, we are making love a way of life, through humility. We have all heard the saying about not judging someone else until you have walked a mile in their shoes. One of the things that I have become so much more aware of since we began The Love Project is that everyone is fighting some kind of battle. So often we don’t see it, or we don’t know about it, but that doesn’t mean it is not happening. There are wars that happen all the time in the minds of those we are around. Whether it be them trying to reconcile past mistakes, or past abuse, or relationship challenges, work issues, self esteem or worth struggles, each person we meet is dealing with something. How can we as people of faith, who want to show the love of God to everyone we meet be able to lay down our own struggles, and begin to help someone else. What is the coolest thing about God is when we do look past our own issues, and reach to help someone else, very often we see our issue from a whole different perspective. It definitely seems smaller, and often just the very act of helping someone else, brings us to a place of humility where we see how blessed we are. We don’t have it nearly as bad as we thought we did. In the very act of helping someone else, we are saying, we will step aside so that you can step up. We will have that peacefulness of heart that allows us to stand aside in order to affirm the value of someone else. So wherever you are, be aware of those around you. Keep your eyes open. Be ready to help someone else. You’ll not only bless someone else, you’ll get blessed in the process too.

Friday
Have you wondered what is the difference is between true humility and false humility? Here are three thoughts that often accompany false humility...

1) Look at me! As we mature, we allow our actions to fade in the background and we don’t worry if no one applauds them. Ask yourself this question next time you perform an act of humility. Am I doing this for something in return? Am I doing this for attention? Or am I doing this as an act of love
2) Finding a new focus- A person who goes around saying, I’m not important, I’m a nobody, what I think really doesn’t matter, forget about me, may appear humble at first, but really could be trying to get attention. Ask yourself these questions - am I doing this for attention, do I really want a compliment, or for someone to think I am important?
3) The right motivation – True humility is sensitive to what actions would be most helpful to others. The goal is not to gain merit for ourself, but to foster the well being of someone else.
That often takes sacrifice.

So let’s think about those ideas, are you the kind of person who is looking of the attention of others? Are you looking for something in return? Are you just asking for a compliment? Or are you truly thinking about the needs of others. We can become Christlike in a world that is self centered. That is one of the attributes that will draw others not only to you, but to Christ in your and that is the evidence of the Love of God being lived out in your on a daily basis. You can make love a way of life, through true, authentic, humility.

Saturday eword for kids
I’m sure you don’t hear people talking about humility too often, but it is something that Jesus talked about that we should try to do. Humility is really the act of stepping down or aside, so that someone else can step up. We can do that in our homes, at school and even at church. We can make the decision to let others look good. I like to think of it this way, we can shine our light on others, so that they can look even better. When we operate in humility, there is a peacefulness on the inside that no one can take away. We are demonstrating the love of God and it empowers us to live like Jesus did. He was humble enough to step aside from heaven, come to the earth, and save us, so that we can be a part of his family. That is humility to the greatest extent ever.
This week, why not see how you can begin to help someone else by letting then shine their light. Don’t try to one up them, or to show them up, but let the love of Jesus shine through you as you recognize their value, by letting them go first, or letting them tell their story, or letting them have the right answer.
We can demonstrate love as a way of life by walking in humility. Try it this week, and see how true the Bible is when it say, when you humble yourself, God will lift you up.

Sunday
Here are some important things to think about when it comes to living a life of love through humility. Do you realize that everything you are and have is because of the people in your life? Sometimes we get high minded and think that we deserve what we have, or that we worked hard for it, but really as believers, the proper credit goes to God. His hand of blessing is on our life….without him we would be nothing. How about this thought. My knowledge is limited. Even the wisest among us hold only a small percent of knowledge in our little brain! In light of our great ignorance, how can we be so prideful! That brings humility down to where the rubber meets the road! How about this thought, I am utterly dependent on something outside of myself for life. Everything we have is a gift, including your next breath. Pride is reliance on our own abilities, humility means recognizing how dependent we are on the power of God on the inside of us. So if those thoughts didn’t bring you back to a place of humility, think about this. Where would you be in life if you would forgo your owns rights to be of benefit to others? What if you used your talents, abilities and status in life to help others succeed? Would your life look a lot different that it does today? Certainly our mind wouldn’t be on ourselves nearly as often as they are. Let’s look once again at how Jesus told us to think. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should not look only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Those are words we can chew on, and digest to begin to operate in a greater degree of humility, so that we can make love a way of life, every day of the week, every week on the month, and every month of each year.