Tag: humility

Holding Your Tongue

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It’s so easy to defend yourself.

Sometimes, you should.

You must.

But other times, it’s preferable to keep quiet, allowing the other to make a fool of themselves.

We are responsible only for ourselves.

Our actions.

Our words.

Our choices.

When you become agitated with your spouse, pause.

Takes maturity to look at things from their perspective.

Humility.

You could be wrong, you know.

And if you are, own it!

And if you’re not, say your peace in a quiet manner, and leave it.

You cannot convince others of your viewpoint if they refuse to move from theirs.

Remember, it’s their choice to walk in your shoes or not.

Just Iike it’s your choice to view theirs.

Goes for friendships, neighbors, co-workers, and your boss.

When your point of view is negated, your feelings thrown to the wall, you have a choice.

You can participate with the foolishness, upping the ante, or you can choose to walk away with your dignity intact.

I know what Jesus would choose, as he regularly chose it while walking this earth.

He chose the high road.

Make your point and go, feeling a bit of pity instead for their ignorance.

Fasten your crown, and declare once again, “None of this moves me.”

Photos by Shana Van Roosbroek & david laws on Unsplash

Slamming Open Doors

Published on by amylinnea2 Comments

How often do you slam doors God has opened for you?

Often?

Never?

What does it look like when we slam a door opened by God?

Selfishness.

Pride.

All points back to us, wanting to be in control.

Thinking we know best.

Better than anyone else, including God.

A thought pops into your head to initiate a conversation with that one person.

You refuse the thought because it’s too hard.

Your dream job comes across your desk, but you deem it unavailable as you are past your prime.

Your family becomes distant while you are distracted by selfish gain, ignoring what you know you should do.

Marriage communication stalls as choices to spend time elsewhere grow with importance, because you know better.

But what if those were God’s whisper to you?

Why was prayer not the first point of action upon realizing the nudging of God?

Why decide apart from God without asking Him?

Doors are opened all the time by God.

As we choose how to spend our time, we either focus on our needs or what God wants for us.

Submitting to God with our whole self enables us to walk through doors God has opened for us.

Sometimes they don’t make sense.

But your spirit finds rest in the decision, knowing God is directing you.

Submitting requires humbleness.

Realizing you have zero wisdom apart from God Himself.

Doors can be big or small as each decision differs in size.

Dating the right person, choosing friends or jobs or homes all rank large on the door scale.

Choosing how to spend your time or deciding to talk with a stranger at the store are smaller doors.

Yet they all matter.

When you let God flow through your decisions, you’ll walk through His open doors, ignoring the doors He closes.

Humbly remember He is your everything.

Yet walk confidently as His beloved through the doors He opens.

Still unsure? Confirm those big doors with trusted loyal Christians. People who seek God on your behalf.

Again, requires humility to seek the wisdom of another.

Big or small, don’t ignore the hand of God. He regularly opens doors for you to further His kingdom.

Often we walk right past, distracting ourselves from His very plan for us.

Honor your commitments. Seek God’s will for your short life. And walk boldly into the future He has for you, through the doors He opens just for you.

Photos by Denny Müller, Beto Galetto, Jan Tinneberg, & Roberto Huczek on Unsplash

Pride

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God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. 1 Peter 5:5

If we are all completely honest, pride is our number one problem.

For most of us.

Almost all of us.

We are disappointed when others don’t see our needs.

Pride.

We are wishing others would go along with what we want.

Pride.

We compare ourselves to others, wishing we had what they had.

Pride.

We erupt in anger when our spouse doesn’t please us.

Pride.

We hesitate to notice our need to apologize as it’s always the other person’s fault.

Pride.

We decide we can never be good enough for others to love us.

Pride.

We disagree with how God created us, arguing with Him about His choices.

Pride.

It’s so easy to see pride in other people.

But not so easy to see it in ourselves.

Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall”.

One of the verses we all memorized as a child, right?

Always used to think we’d literally trip and fall if we had pride.

Maybe, but it’s probably just looking like a fool in general or at a specific time when we’re full of pride.

I for one would hate to look like a fool, so that verse helps me remember.

But if you’re thinking it would be worth it, let’s look at this next verse.

Remember, 1 Peter 5:5 says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”.

All the fools who think pride is worth it should now reconsider.

God literally opposes the proud.

Opposes.

Is not working for the good of.

Do you want God to be against you?

Is your pride worth that?

Absolutely not.

May we all resign to put others first, forgoing ourselves as the most important.

May we repent for our sin, asking God to fill us with His Holy Spirit.

May God give us abundant grace and humility to replace the ugly pride that fills up our hearts.

Only with God can we possibly overcome the sin of pride.

Ask Him every day to help you.

And because you are focusing on humility, He absolutely will help because He won’t oppose you anymore.

Photos by Sticker Mule, Nagy David, & Jakob Owens on Unsplash