In these verses Paul is describing what our spiritual clothing should look like. It’s the fruit of the Spirit we are wearing. Since this week our topic is humility, I will try to share what humility looks like according to this scripture.
Way
back in my late 20’s, my husband wanted to join an organization that sold
products which were marketed as superior to other products and you had to buy
and use these products and encourage others to join the ranks. It was expensive and very demanding. In order to make money, we had to get people
to not only buy these products, but get them to join the organization and sell
to others. If you’ve ever heard of a
pyramid scheme, this is one.
One
weekend, we had to attend a rally. I was
not very happy to leave my 7 month old daughter and give up my weekend to
attend this rally. In fact I shed a lot
of tears. But my husband really wanted
to make this business venture work and we were not only told it would allow me
to quit my job and be a stay-at-home working mother, but it was a requirement
for our new business.
Long
story short, we heard from dozens of people about how successful they were and what
stuck out in my mind was how they flaunted their diamonds. You see, you achieve statuses in this
organization and once you reach this diamond status, you are, well, rich. These people showed off their beautiful
clothing, they showed pictures of their beautiful homes, yachts, cars and
vacations. But what they lacked was
humility. They made their money off all
of us in the audience. It was a pyramid
scheme all right. Full of lust and
greed. They idolized getting rich and
using other people. I can remember going
to the people who recruited us to tell them we were getting out – they were
mad! They would no longer earn an income
off our purchases, and our attendance to these mandatory rallies. And to try to keep us in their chain link,
they had the person who recruited them to come and convince us to stay in the
organization. However, I just knew
better and dug my heels in. He too was
mad!
That
was not how Paul describes humility.
I
have been reading The
Calvary Road and this is what Roy Hession describes in chapter 4 how in humility we can
reach Calvary.
“The only way to the
Highway is up a small, dark, forbidding hill – the Hill of Calvary. It is the sort of hill we have to climb on
our hands and knees – especially our knees.
If we are content with our present Christian life, if we do not desire
with a desperate hunger to get on the Highway, we shall never get on our knees
and thus never climb the hill. But if we
are dissatisfied, if we are hungry, then we will find ourselves ascending. Don’t hurry.
Let God make you really hungry for the Highway; let Him really drive you
to your knees in longing prayer. Mere
sightseers won’t get very far. “Ye shall
find me when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.” (Jer. 29:13)”
“Brokenness
in daily experience is simply the response of humility to the conviction of
God.” (Roy Hession-“The Calvary Road”)
What
have you chosen to clothe yourself with?
Is Christ the wardrobe you are wearing as a believer?
We
are reminded in scripture that if any person be in Christ Jesus, he or she is a
new creation; old things have passed away and all things have become new.
If
we are truly confessing believers, we have to drop those desires to get rich
quick. We have to put on Christ which
others will see as we navigate our way through our daily lives. God’s people are being led by His Holy Spirit.
That seems to be the problem with many Christians today – you cannot tell the difference between them and non-Christians. There is no fruit bearing in many of their lives because they are trying to keep one foot in the world and one with Christ. It just won’t work! God wants us to crawl on our knees up the Hill of Calvary. He wants to be the center of our lives with evidence of His presence with us!
I’ll
leave you with a prayer I have often said.
It is from The Calvary Road.
“Lord, bend
that proud and stiff necked I. Help me
to bow the head and die; beholding Him on Calvary, who bowed His head for me.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3Wf2ptiAbk