God Knows Us

 “It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles the man; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.” Matthew 15:11

When my mother was still alive, we went on a tour of pilgrimage sites in Europe with Father Suarez and two other priests. She wanted to do this because she was diagnosed with tongue cancer. On the very first day, we waited to have lunch in a busy Chinese restaurant in Paris. While seated inside, we noticed that the waiters removed the tea cups from a pail, and placed them on our table. The insides of the cups were filthy with the tea residue. After discussion, we left, along with many of our tour mates. The dirt inside the tea cups was easy to see. Even the pail was yukky and lined with newspaper! What an experience in one of the most beautiful cities in the world! 

In contrast, only God can see what is inside us! Jesus saw that the Pharisees were hypocrites, that they were experts in making people feel guilty about small matters of the law, while they themselves neglected what was more important to God, loving our neighbor and putting God first. In Psalm 139, David wrote, “O Lord, You have probed me and You know me...You understand my thoughts...my journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways You are familiar.” 

Yes, God knows us inside out. We cannot hide from Him. He made us and we are His. We cannot fool Him. Just as He probes us, let us probe ourselves as well, observing what we need to repent of. What comes out of our mouth and heart? 

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34) 

“The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)

He loves us in spite of our weakness and sin. He is willing to help us to become more than conquerors! 

Take Courage

 Jesus said to the disciples, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!" Mark 6:50

When I was young, my father had a boat and once he took our family out to sea. Unfortunately although the day started out fine, when we were way out, the wind became strong and I thought we were going to die! I started to panic and pray. But I looked at my father and he was so calm as if there was nothing to worry about. He was enjoying himself. 

So I felt better, and my panic dissipated. When we are in the midst of any terrifying storm, if we look at the circumstances, we can panic and feel afraid. But if we look at Jesus knowing He can calm any storm, we will be at peace, the "peace beyond understanding".

Right now, I am in the midst of a storm. I have pulmonary hypertension and my doctor keeps telling me it is a progressive disease. Sometimes I feel so weak and helpless like yesterday when I couldn’t even go to mass from my breathlessness. I can panic and be terrified at what the future can bring, realizing no doctor can cure me. But I choose to look to God who created me and loves me. He took care of me my whole life, and I know that being at the center of His will is the very best for me!

Nothing Can Separate Us

 "For I am convinced, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39

Saint Paul, who had a direct line to heaven was convinced, believed to his very core, persuaded that nothing, absolutely nothing could separate us, sever us, isolate us, block us off from, divide us, disconnect us from the unfailing, merciful, faithful, encompassing, forgiving love of God.

Certainly not death, no principalities or powers, no enemies that want to destroy us, no evil spirits or lying men.

Nothing present in our life now, our mental state, our physical condition, the company we keep, our finances, the way we think or feel, our unworthiness, even if we are convinced we do not deserve God's love! All these cannot separate us from His love!

Nothing in our future- our anxieties, uncertainties, doubt!No height of absurdity, depth of despair. Nothing in our past, no creature in our past or present or future who left us, who destroyed us, shackled us, will be able to divide us from the love our Father has for us.

Help me to see that You are always by my side! Help me to be convinced as Saint Paul was convinced and sure of, that You love me!

Do not allow anyone or anything to steal this conviction from me!!!

Faith Like a Muscle

 “And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.” Matthew 13:58

Whenever I give an art workshop, I always say that creativity is like a muscle. We all have it, but if we don’t exercise it, it will be limp, and useless. Use it all the time, and it will bloom and grow. There are many exercises and challenges available online to increase creativity. Creativity is not just for artists. Business people, teachers, mothers and fathers, every one on the planet  needs it all the time to be more effective, and successful in their jobs, roles and relationships. 

In Matthew 13:58, we read that Jesus did not do many miracles in His hometown because of the people’s lack of faith. Is faith like a muscle as well? Can we grow in faith just as we can grow in creativity? No doubt about it! Like the gift of creativity, God has also given each one of us, a seed of faith. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ”, St. Paul writes in Romans 10:17.

We can go to God’s gym to develop our spiritual muscles by exercising our faith everyday, by believing in God’s promises, by rebuking the enemy’s whispers of hopelessness and deception. If someone is sick, we should pray for him and not be shy or insecure that our prayers will not work. Whatever challenge comes our way, let us use our faith muscles and one day we will be spiritual Schwarzeneggers!!! 

Let us become so strong in the faith that the devil trembles when we get up in the morning!!!

Like Clay

 

“Like the clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand.” Jeremiah 18:6

Anyone who has tried to work with clay will know that the quality, the workability of the clay determines much of what the potter can make out of it. At the start, the clay just looks like mud with a lot of stones and twigs and leaves in it as it is dug out of a river bank or even a construction site. The potter can’t use it until he removes all the alien matter by using a sieve or processing it by hand. Can you imagine how painful that would be if we were the clay? 

After the clay is prepared, the potter puts it on a potter’s wheel and turns it round and round much like we experience the trials and challenges of life again and again! Unlike clay, we can choose to be malleable in God’s hands and cooperate with what He wants to do. Sometimes God uses a low temperature to fire us up. But if He uses a higher temperature, we should know that He wants to make us useful for His own purposes. Clay of good quality like kaolin or porcelain need higher temperatures and are fired repeatedly but they can be made into plates, and cups and vases and they can be decorated with glaze. 

None of the pain we experience at the hands of the Master Potter is ever wasted. The longer He works in us, that means He is working to remove all that does not please Him in our character, the more He is making us useful and beautiful in His sight. 

Thank You Lord, that I am in Your hands! The best place in the world for me! We need only to trust in You! 

One Thing

 “One thing is required..." Luke 10:42

What is that one thing that Jesus says is required?

Can you imagine if Jesus visits your home- Your name is Martha, and you welcome Him. Your sister Mary sits at His feet and listens to everything He is saying. You want to listen too. His Words pull You, and you want to learn from Him. But you have to be in the kitchen because you are preparing dinner for Jesus and His disciples. You get really frustrated, and you feel it is unfair that Mary is not helping in the kitchen. So you say something. "Lord, are You not concerned that Mary has left me all alone to prepare everything? Tell her to help me!"

I guess this is born out of Martha's frustration that she wants to be at His feet too! I would have thought that Martha would be happy Mary was doing the "entertaining" of their guest! Jesus rebukes her gently, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and upset about many things; one thing only is required. Mary has chosen the better portion and she shall not be deprived of it." Jesus, who knows Martha's heart and mind, knows she is upset about many things. He wants her to sit down at his feet too. Dinner can wait. First things first.

We know that Martha listened. In John 11;40, when Jesus returned to their village because his friend and their brother Lazarus died, he asked that the stone be rolled away. Martha protested, "Lord, Lazarus has been dead for 4 days. There will be an awful stench!" Jesus turned to her, "Martha, Martha, did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" Jesus' conversations with Martha and Mary have not been recorded, but we too can have our own conversations with the Lord. When we are bothered and upset about many things, Jesus knows. He calls us to have a conversation with Him. To sit at his feet. Dinner can wait. Laundry can wait. Worrying can wait. Only one thing is required. That we listen to him. That we believe. That is the only way we will see the glory of God.

Yes Lord, I will listen. I believe! I want to see Your glory!

The Kingdom of Heaven

 “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.” Matthew 13:33

Jesus told many parables about the kingdom of heaven. I guess He wanted us to ponder what heaven was really like. Jesus proposed that the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field but an enemy sowed weeds in it when everyone was sleeping. When the man’s helpers asked if they should pull up the weeds, he said no because the wheat would get uprooted as well. He advised them to wait till harvest, and then the weeds would be separated and thrown into the fire to be destroyed. Doesn’t this show that God is very patient? In this world, the enemy has sown bad seeds but one day, we will see God’s justice. When the day of judgement comes, those who have chosen to oppose God will be separated and punishment will be meted out to them. 

Then Jesus compared the kingdom to a tiny mustard seed that would grow into the largest of plants. Faith is that tiny mustard seed. When we nurture our seed of faith all things are possible! 

Then we have the third parable where the kingdom of heaven is likened to yeast. The sizes of this single cell microorganism vary greatly, depending on species and environment, typically measuring 3–4 µm or micrometer in diameter. So small! Sometimes my husband makes bread, but he doesn’t do it often enough for my liking. So one time he used yeast that was dead already because it was in our shelf for too long. After waiting for some time, the dough did not rise. Yeast is the ingredient that produces gas that makes the bread rise. It feeds on the sugars in flour, and expels carbon dioxide in the process. How can the kingdom of heaven be like yeast? 

Like the mustard seed, yeast is tiny as well. God apparently likes to work slowly, using small things, sometimes these are too small to be noticed at first. But just like a mustard seed grows into a large plant, and the bread that grows because of the yeast, the kingdom of heaven cannot fail to spread far and wide. Christianity started with just a ragged taggle bunch of inexperienced preachers but armed with zeal, faith, and the might of the Holy Spirit, they travelled and reached the far corners of the known world. 

The enemy has always tried to plant bad seed within and without the church, but as we are assured in Jesus’ parable, He is the one allowing all these evil and wickedness to remain until one day they will be uprooted and incinerated. We know the Kingdom of heaven will prevail, no matter how bad things seem. As Jesus promised, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” (Matthew 16:18)

Only One Way

 

“When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” Matthew 13:46

The largest natural giant clam pearl on record is the Pearl of Puerto Princesa, followed closely by the Giga Pearl and the historical Pearl of Lao Tzu. The latter is valued at $35 million and was found in 1934. The former was found by a fisherman inside a giant clam. It is huge, more than 2 feet long, and 1 foot wide and weighs 75 pounds! The fisherman hid it under his bed, his house burned down, and the pearl survived. The pearl is valued at an amazing 100 million dollars! 

Even if I sold all I had, I could not buy that pearl! And what in the world would I do with it? Jesus gave all He had, even His very life for something He considered His pearl of great price. Mankind. Are we worth it? He must have seen beyond the surface because when I look around me, when I read the news, and the rude comments on Facebook, it seems like people are getting worse every day! 

I remember going to a pearl farm in Hanoi several years ago. The guide showed us these ugly, mud encrusted shells. We had to dig into all that muck to find the pearl. I know Jesus sees the pearl in us, encased in sin and the mud of our own selfishness. He was willing to give up His glory, His power, to be crucified by the very men He came to save, just so He could ransom us from our hopeless state. We too should try to see our brothers and sisters as pearls of great price. How do we bring ourselves out of the muck? There is only one way, and Jesus is that way, the truth and the life. 

Thank You Lord! I cannot imagine what You went through to save us! 

Treasure in Earthen Vessels

 

“We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7

Of the short stories in the book “Chicken Soup for a Woman’s Soul”, the one that impressed me was that of Mary Kay Ash. Like many women in the book, she had a hard childhood, a difficult time trying to earn a living, and although she made good sales for the company she worked for, it was the men who would get promoted. When her first husband divorced her, she was left with three children to support. We can say she was “afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed...”. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

In 1963, after quitting from a job where women were not given the same opportunities as men, she started her own cosmetics company with $5,000.00 and her family backing her up. Her sons and her mom always said, “You can do it, Mary Kay.” They saw the gold in her earthen vessel.  Mary Kay’s company was founded not on competition, but on the Golden Rule, on praising people to succeed and on the principle of placing faith first, family second and career third. It was a company – as Mary Kay Ash would say – "with heart." Mary Kay died in 2001, but what she built lives on.

It is the Feast Day of St. James the Apostle today.  And it is so fitting that we read from St. Paul's 2nd letter to the Corinthians. Like St. James and all the other saints, we are 'earthen vessels', fragile, weak, easily broken. And like St. James, we hold the treasure of God's Spirit, something more valuable than any gold or precious metal. From a man of quick temper and selfishness, he became a man who traveled long distances to preach the good news and was the first of the apostles to be martyred for Christ. 

Let’s not forget we all have this treasure in earthen vessels. Sometimes adversity brings it out.  Other times we just need others to encourage us and say, “You can do it!” Nothing is impossible with God!

Unload!

 “Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.” Matthew 13:7

This well known Parable of the Sower and the Seed teaches us many things. The Word is seed and only the seed which falls on good soil will bear much fruit. Perhaps we read the Bible and pray in the morning, but during the day, the cares and burdens of the day suffocate the Word. We do not stop to praise God for the good, and lift up our challenges. We do not stop for some quiet time to see our day and the people who bother us with God’s eyes. Irritation and anger comes in, even gossip. The seed has no chance to grow amidst these “thorns”.

In a little town in Russia a long time ago, women would have to carry their huge baskets on their shoulders to bring to the market to sell. They walked a long way and it was very hard work. We can imagine how happy they were when they built train tracks through their little town. They would be able to ride the train to market. On the first day the train passed through, the women waited at the station. Alas! they could not fit their huge baskets in through the train entrance. They tried carrying the baskets on their side, their back, on top of them, but they could not fit it in. “Ladies!” the conductor said, “To enter, you have to unload!”

The same way with us. Sometimes we are overloaded with our bags and packages of busyness, worries, quarrels, misunderstandings, unforgiveness and pains. Jesus said He is willing to take our burdens from us (Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 55:22, Isaiah 58:6, 1 Peter 5:6-7 and many more). Let us unload our burdens on Jesus and we will be free to plant seed in the rich soil of our hearts and bear fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirty fold.

You See

 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” Matthew 13:16-17

Don Schwager, an American missionary, wrote, “God can only reveal the secrets of his kingdom to the humble and trusting person who acknowledges their need for God and for His truth.” 

In the brutal war of Russia against the invading armies of Napoleon, Tsar Aleksandr Pavlovich resorted to going down on his knees in the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin. He kissed the holy relics and prayed for a miracle while Moscow was burning. According to one writer, God sent a “minor, minor prophet” in the form of a savage winter that ravaged Napoleon’s forces.

“The terrible sufferings of the French on their return march are well-known. There was even cannibalism, - a sure sign of apocalyptic times, - as the soldiers of the Great Army began to put their fellow-soldiers in the stew pots. Out of the vast army - nearly 600,000 men, only about half of whom were French - that set out for Russia, only 120,000 returned, 35,000 of them French. The Russians lost 400,000, but they had saved their homeland.” The Tsar had been humble enough to go down on his knees and acknowledge that they needed God’s help.

Today, here and now, we need God’s intervention. We need to go down on our knees to implore God to save us from the invisible but insidious enemy who wants to destroy the truth, our families, marriages, our schools and even our country. May this realization draw us closer to God, eager to hear what He has to say.

I Have Seen the Lord

 

“I have seen the Lord!” Mary went and announced to the disciples. (John 20:18)

We may think we have very few occasions in which to proclaim this. Some will even say they have never seen the Lord. I know someone who was visited by Jesus when she was young and sick in bed. And then there is the star sportscaster, Nick Charles, who died of bladder cancer. He too was visited by Jesus who sat with him while he was struggling with pain. “It wasn’t a hallucination,” he said. He told Jesus he was ready to go home, but Jesus said, “Not yet.”

I like the story in 1 Kings 19:11-13. The awesome prophet Elijah was told by the Father to “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” A great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard the gentle whisper, he knew it was the Lord. Usually we will hear the Lord and experience Him when we are waiting in silence. He cannot come if we are surrounded by noise and busyness all the time. 

I saw a Facebook post of Mel Gibson talking to a bloody and battered Jim Caviezel, who acted the part of Jesus in the blockbuster movie, “The Passion of the Christ”. Mel Gibson looked like he was having a deep conversation with Jesus. The thing is, Jesus is always waiting for us to talk to Him. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20) That is a promise we should claim again and again. 

We should carve out time to make a friend of Jesus who is willing to get bloodied and battered for us! If we open the door every day, one day we will say with excitement, “I have seen the Lord and it was awesome!”

Royal Family

 

“Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Matthew 12:49-50

We can’t pick and choose our family, we are born into one. I thank God all the time for my family. Our parents brought us up simply and well. We were all taught the virtues of loving God, honesty, and working hard. We have all heard so many sad stories of people who grew up in less than ideal family situations. Either the father or mother is an alcoholic, or a gambler, or a drug user, or all three. They can’t keep a job, they physically and emotionally abuse their children, etc. In the He Cares Voluntutor program for street children, they not only tutor the children academically, they also need to teach the parents how to encourage their children to study. This is because a lot of parents hinder their children’s ability to learn by saying things like, “You’re stupid! You just can’t do it!” 

Isn’t it wonderful that whatever kind of family we came from, we can be part of a whole new family? A family with a royal bloodline? That is exactly what Jesus is saying here, whoever does the will of God is part of His family! We can have new brothers and sisters if we join a Bible believing Christian group or fellowship. In my community, Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon (The Joy of the Lord), I am surrounded by loving, encouraging, supportive, and prayerful brothers and sisters that I joyfully journey with on my pilgrim walk to our heavenly home. 

God’s Friend

 

Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” Matthew 12:38

I am trying to remember when I asked for a sign from God. I have never been one of those women who asked for a red rose or a white rose or whatever. Not that I think it is wrong to ask for a sign. In Psalm 86:17, David asked God for a sign of His favor. Moses in Exodus 33:18, not only looked for a sign from God, but asked God to show him His glorious presence. 

Amazingly, God did answer Moses with conditions. In verse 19-23 of Exodus 33, we can read how the Lord replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh….As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen.”

If we think about it, it is not surprising that God favored Moses. After all, we can read in Exodus 33:11 that the Lord would speak to Moses as one speaks to a friend.

I was listening to Father Mike Schmitz and he was talking about his relationship with his father. (Listen to it here - https://youtu.be/c7ULuwKYEwQ ) His father obviously wanted to get close to him, inviting him to go fishing or hunting. BUT Fr. Mike did not want to do those things, he did not want to go with him. His dad would say, “Come with me, I’m going running”, but Fr. Mike would just get annoyed! He did not want to do anything that his father liked to do! He also did not want to tell his father what he was reading because he thought his father would think he was foolish. Sometimes while he was reading about Tarzan or whatever, Fr. Mike would catch his father looking at him, and he would ask why. His father said he just liked looking at his son. He wanted to get to know his son, he wanted to be with his son, but Fr. Mike would rebuff all those overtures! Reflecting on this later in life, Fr. Mike realized that many of us are like that with God. God wants to get close to us, He wants to be friends, but we act like spiritual orphans. Fr. Mike called it ‘self-imposed fatherlessness’.

Father, if there are ways I turn my back on You, spurning Your efforts to get close to me, snubbing Your invitations to get to know You, please help me to reconnect with You! I want to be Your friend! 

The Joy of the Lord

 “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." Luke 6:5

If you've watched Fiddler on the Roof like I have (many times!!!), you've seen how the Jews kept the Sabbath holy as God commanded them to do in Exodus 20:8-11.  “Remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord God, in it you shall not do any work...The Lord blessed the Sabbath and hallowed it." In the movie, we see how the family gathers together and Tevye and Golde lead the prayers.

It's funny how most of us, including me, find it so hard to follow God's teachings and laws when it is actually for our own good. Consider when God wants us to forgive those who have wronged us. Forgiveness sets us free from bondage. And when God teaches us to work on 6 days a week and set aside one day for rest, it is also for our good! It is a gift to us, a day in which to celebrate His goodness and faithfulness. If we learn to focus on God one day a week, we will be restored, refreshed and strengthened. “The joy of the Lord is our strength!"

We should gather as a family, as a community, as a parish, and recognize our God as the giver of every good gift. God wants to bring us into His rest. What God finds good, He wants to share with His people He calls as His own. Just as on the seventh day He rested and enjoyed the work of His hands (Genesis 2:1-2), seeing how good it all was, so too does God want us to stop and experience that same joy. 

If we set aside one day a week to follow God's 4th commandment, it is like saying, "Lord God, I put You first, not the things my hands have made. I recognize that everything comes from you and I honor you. I want to receive every blessing you have in store for me!"

Find Rest

 “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Life can be burdensome. We carry a load on our back and it can break us or make us stronger. Sometimes we cannot carry it alone or it will make us bitter, desperate, rebellious and even hardened to the point of brittleness. Think of those who survived the Holocaust, who went through wars, and great famines, the pandemic and all the economic and mental health repercussions that went with it. Where are we to go to look for the bright light we long for? 

When I think of burdens I remember Shrek the sheep. He became famous in 2004 for his fleece which was abnormally heavy! Merinos are normally shorn every year but Shrek was an expert in hiding in caves and avoided being caught for six long years! He belonged to the Bendigo sheep station near Tarras, New Zealand, and when he was finally found, his shearing was broadcast on national television. An average merino would just carry 4.5 kg, with an exceptional weight of up to 15 kg. Shrek’s fleece weighed 27 kg, enough for 20 large men’s suits! What a heavy burden, simply because Shrek kept hiding from his shepherd for six long years! He was a runaway rebel like many of us, preferring to carry our burdens by ourselves. 

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” Jesus invites us. If we surrender, stop hiding, Jesus promises He will give us rest. All we need to do is to learn from Him, to read and understand and take His words to heart. The yoke we take upon us is also carried by Him. He came to redeem us. He gave His life so we can have fullness of life! 

Little Enough

 “...although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.” Matthew 11:25 

I think most people are a complicated mixture of humility and pride. Sometimes we have this humility that makes us not step up because we think we can't do something, we are not capable, we don't have what it takes. We prefer to watch as other people "take the limelight". But I think being humble means that we know the truth about ourselves. C. S. Lewis in his remarkable book, "Mere Christianity", wrote, "True humility is not thinking less of yourself: it is thinking of yourself less."

I enjoy listening to the preacher, Francis Chan, because he tells funny stories about himself. He told of one of the first times he did a conference and John MacArthur, the famous author-preacher etc. was in the audience. While he was speaking, Francis kept looking at John MacArthur. When they were driving home, Francis Chan's wife asked him, "What was that all about? You weren't yourself!" And Francis Chan said, "John MacArthur was in the audience!" "Let me get this straight," his wife said," You were preaching about the presence of God, and you were worried about the presence of John MacArthur????" 

How many times do we refuse to use our gifts, the gifts God has given us, because we are afraid of what other PEOPLE will think? Humility is knowing that we are nothing without Christ. We can do nothing without God's presence and power.

Here’s a practical challenge for us. Let's rate ourselves against Mother Teresa's humility list!

1. Speak as little as possible about yourself.

2. Keep busy with your own affairs and not those of others.

3. Avoid curiosity.

4. Do not interfere in the affairs of others.

5. Accept small irritations with good humor.

6. Do not dwell on the faults of others.

7. Accept censures even if unmerited.

8. Give in to the will of others.

9. Accept insults and injuries.

10. Accept contempt, being forgotten and disregarded.

11. Be courteous and delicate even when provoked by someone.

12. Do not seek to be admired and loved.

13. Do not protect yourself behind your own dignity.

14. Give in, in discussions, even when you are right.

15. Choose always the more difficult task.

“Few of us are big enough to become little enough to be used of God," Vance Havner wrote. Lord, help me to become little enough so You can teach me Your ways, and You can accomplish what You want to accomplish through me!