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!