relationships

Jesus: humility in relationships

September 4, 2006
This entry is part 5 of 10 in the series humility

I’m seeing that a large part of growing in humility is learning to love people. I started to write “deal with people,” but deal sounds so…unloving. I don’t want to be one who sees others as something to deal with, as if people were obstacles; I want to love people as if they are the most important thing around. And that requires humility, total dependence on and trust in God. As my family will tell you, humility does not come naturally to me, and I know that only with God’s help can I walk consistently in humility and love in my relationships.

Reading Luke 4 today made this all the clearer. Jesus returns to Nazareth, his hometown, and goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath. It suddenly occurred to me: Jesus had history with these people–decades of history…

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got humility?

August 29, 2006
This entry is part 1 of 10 in the series humility

Shortly after writing yesterday's post, I read 1 Peter 3:8: “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” That pretty much covers it, right? If we have these five characteristics, we should not have many people problems. The last one–a humble mind–caught my attention.

Pride is the root of offense. It is only when we think something of ourselves that we can be offended. If my sense of self and my security come from and rest in God–that which is unchanging–then my sense of self and my security cannot be rocked or shaken by the behavior of others. As my pastor has said, “Dead people don’t get offended.” When I die to myself and find my life hidden in God, I’ve moved to another place where offense can’t touch me.

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Your promise gives me life

August 28, 2006

The Little Book of Hours has included readings from Psalm 119 every day for the past week, and Saturday’s portion blessed me. The writer says,

This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life.
The insolent utterly deride me,
but I do not turn away from your law. (v. 50–51)

In the past, I read affliction as sickness or some other source of physical suffering. And it can certainly mean that. For most of us, though, we likely experience more pain and suffering in relationships, and relational issues–people problems–can suck the life out of us pretty quickly…

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