Humility
Today’s reflection and prayer are taken from Lectio365
Scripture – Psalm 104: 24, 30-34; 2 Chronicles 7: 13-14; 1 Peter 5:5-7
The verses of Psalm 104 rejoice in the ongoing work of God’s creation and His salvation today, for which we are eternally grateful on this Earth day. We see in the beauty of creation at this time of year the variety of things God has made and how He has given breath to all His creatures, who He takes great delight in. Let’s find time to rejoice and give thanks to God in our creation today, in spite of all the negative things which are going on around us.
In the scripture reading from the book of Chronicles God gives 3 keys to 3 promises. The keys are humility, prayer and repentance. The promises are the hearing of our prayers, the blessing of our lives, and the healing of our land. Today we’re going to look at humility.
How hard do you find it to apologise when you are wrong? I have to admit I don’t like being wrong and often emotions get in the way of me admitting this, but sometimes it is necessary to admit you’re not always right. It’s also wrong to have too much pride in what you do. I wonder how many of us strive to get lots of likes on social media? How many of us put ourselves down or big ourselves up in comparison with others? Do you feel entitled to good things and feel unfairly treated when life is tough? The passage from Peter tells us to humble ourselves – ‘clothe yourself with humility.’ In these difficult times we have much time to reflect on our own humility. God asks us to be ourselves and do everything for His glory, not for our own selfish ambition, not to be noticed by others. Just as He told us to go quietly into our rooms and pray so everything we do should be in the same vain, not doing things for praise but because it is our duty to God. So today, for those of you who feel you’re not doing enough or even those who boast about what they are doing, remember that neither of these emotions display humility. As Peter says: ‘God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.’ Humility is not something which happens automatically – just as you have to get up every morning and dress yourself (or maybe not in present times!) we have to put on humble attitudes. How are you going to humble yourself today?
Prayer
Father, help us to live this day to the full, serving you in true humility,
being true to you in every way.
Jesus, help us to give ourselves to others,
being kind in all our words and deeds to everyone we meet, in the flesh or on social media,
or in our telephone conversations.
Holy Spirit, help us to love the lost,
proclaiming Christ in all we do and say.
Amen