To follow up
on my previous post about struggling to be humble and getting small (less
pride), I present Colossians’ answer to those struggles. As I realize with all
of my dangerous struggles in life I cannot handle them on my own. I turn to the
Bible and prayer to help me through my inner and outer struggles. Getting
humble is an internal thing and working through this issue is no exception to my
Scripture and prayer rule. As a matter of fact the struggle with getting small
is prayer and Scripture specific. The Scripture gives me much of the direct
answers I need in the form or Colossians 3, the prayer gives be the strength through
my much needed relationship with the Lord when failure and defeat mount
unmercifully. I have found the battle with humility is laced with demonic partners
of anger, pride and insecurity and these tag-teamed forces have become a protracted and pitted battle. It has been a lengthy confrontation I never saw coming. God has to
be in these situations or I fail.
Colossians
3:12-13 ~ Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and
beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and
patience, [fore]bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint
against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you,
so you also must forgive.
I have
needed to divest myself of behavior that was inappropriate for a Christian in
the entirety of my life. This included what I did in the privacy of my home
life. Humility in public and a false humility at home is leading a double life
and is not Christian whatsoever. It is a textbook case of hypocrisy. My emphasis needed to not be stopping the
actions but stopping the motives or emotions/feelings that instigated the
undesirable actions. This included justifying two-faced behaviors.
Paul had
taught this concept in Romans 6:4 too, “We were buried therefore with him
by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of
life.”
I need to
reminder myself that I as a believer had been specially selected and set apart
to represent Him not only to the public but especiaslly to those in my family. As a man, i act as the conduit through which grace flows spiritually into my family. Up to this point I have failed miserably. First and foremost I am to
project God’s love. It’s hard to do that when I was often sullen and brooding. Colossians 3:12-14
then goes on a roll that hit home to me like a sledgehammer in the head.
Because of false humility, I was guilty of not projecting nearly all of these,
mostly to those closest to me. I don’t humble well nor suffer well. When I am humble
and loving things like compassion, kindness, gentleness, forebearing/patience
(v.12-14) should come naturally. I certainly struggle with all of them.
These
are all mentioned together so it should be assumed that to some extent they
should all be present in the new person I am to have become as a Christian. Compassion
is putting myself in another person’s shoes in an empathetic manner and feeling their
pain and having a God-given sensitivity to it. In the Greek it is σπλάγχνα/splanchna
meaning internal organs or bowels, and οἰκτιρμοῦ/oiktirmou meaning deep
visceral feelings. It’s as if Paul is driving home a near supernatural feeling
in the very core of what I am. It literally means a twisting of the guts. I
believe it is exactly what we mean today when we say things made our stomach
turn. I need to have compassion in love for others that allows me to so acutely
feel their pain that it turns my stomach to have to witness and empathize with
it.
My kindness
is χρηστότητa/chrestota in Greek. This word’s cognate or root comes from
xrēstós which means useful, profitable". When used in conjunction with the
idea of kindness which this word also means, it comes to mean a kindness that
is useful or can be applied. It essentially begs the question, what am I doing
for others that I love and are kind to? It is having a sweet disposition and
have selfless dealings with people. Yes, I said sweet.
The
attribute of humility really zeroes in on the point and pain of my post. In the
Greek it is actually ταπεινοφροσύνην/tapeinophrosyne and it means to
self-moderate internally based on an honest self-evaluation. I need to be lowly
of heart. I must become insignificant and lift others up. It really means I
must work to reduce myself and not be self-serving. I cannot be doing things
expecting a positive outcome or immediate reward (Kittel, 2-21).
I should truly
be more concerned with the welfare of others. They are not to be treated as if
they are more important than my own welfare….they are actually to be more
important. This
therefore really catches Jesus meaning when He described greatness through
service and sacrifice. That means Jesus’ crucifixion is the pinnacle of this
humility. He led by perfect example.
My humility should therefore be created by drawing an honest parallel of myself up alongside of Jesus and see how I compare. I should be striving for his example. I should clearly see my moral smallness and act accordingly. To act large knowing my true sinful shortcomings is just pure sin by pride. Pride must be mortified or killed off in order to put one’s self under another to serve.
My humility should therefore be created by drawing an honest parallel of myself up alongside of Jesus and see how I compare. I should be striving for his example. I should clearly see my moral smallness and act accordingly. To act large knowing my true sinful shortcomings is just pure sin by pride. Pride must be mortified or killed off in order to put one’s self under another to serve.
Does it mean
the other person’s better than me? No. That has nothing to do with it. In reality,
many people that I will end up helping are morally and spiritually corrupt.
Many will be unrepentant sinners hardened and drowning in their sin. Without my
service to them in giving them the Gospel, they may never hear another world
from Scripture and die condemned.
Remember folks, Jesus loved sinners and died for sinners, while they were still sinners and did not recognize Him as the Messiah. We may be required to present the Gospel to people under the same conditions. People may hate us and spit in our faces when we present the Gospel to them. This requires a willingness to serve and possibly be abused for doing so. This is true humility.
Remember folks, Jesus loved sinners and died for sinners, while they were still sinners and did not recognize Him as the Messiah. We may be required to present the Gospel to people under the same conditions. People may hate us and spit in our faces when we present the Gospel to them. This requires a willingness to serve and possibly be abused for doing so. This is true humility.
It may
require that we pursue a hardened family member much of their ungrateful lives
just to win them to Christ. This might take an entire lifetime of service to be
able to pull it off for just one person. This is where the patience and gentleness comes in too. Some
people are not going to be saved overnight. It will take prolonged work in
humility.
Gentleness is πραΰτητα/prauteta and is emphasizing a divine meekness. It means not behaving harshly, arrogantly, or self-assertively but with consideration for others even in the worst circumstances. I must be intentionally reserved in times of trouble or baptisms of fire. This gentleness is critical in maintaining our Christian character. If we mess up even one time and people see it...we come off as hypocritical. Our patience and gentleness must be consistent, therefore it must be real. If we are prone to snapping out. We certainly do not have what the Bible speaks of. I am exceptionally guilty of this one and it appears to be a systemic failure more than anything. I just fail to embody Christ on this one quite often.
Gentleness is πραΰτητα/prauteta and is emphasizing a divine meekness. It means not behaving harshly, arrogantly, or self-assertively but with consideration for others even in the worst circumstances. I must be intentionally reserved in times of trouble or baptisms of fire. This gentleness is critical in maintaining our Christian character. If we mess up even one time and people see it...we come off as hypocritical. Our patience and gentleness must be consistent, therefore it must be real. If we are prone to snapping out. We certainly do not have what the Bible speaks of. I am exceptionally guilty of this one and it appears to be a systemic failure more than anything. I just fail to embody Christ on this one quite often.
Patience/ἀνεχόμενοι/anechomenoi
and forbearance/μακροθυμίαν/makrothymia should be seen acting together and this
is rather profound from a Greek translation especially μακροθυμίαν. This is a
compound word made of μακρο/makro or macro meaning long, large or broad and
θυμία/thumia meaning to burn slowly as if to produce smoke. In other words it
is a low burning fire that is not prone to burst into raging flame or in the case
of our context…an anger that is not impulsive and easy to explode and pepper
everyone in earshot.
In short it is a perfect illustration of long-suffering. I therefore need to not be prone to spiral to high temperatures quickly or become ill-tempered. I am not to be of aggressive temperament. I need to be slow to burst into anger (if at all). I should not blow-up or snap-out on people for trivialities. Understanding this I quickly arrive at the conclusion that my anger is never justified. There is no place in a Christian’s life for explosive and corrosive anger. I am mortified (as are many men) that I often battle with this emotion and behavior.
In short it is a perfect illustration of long-suffering. I therefore need to not be prone to spiral to high temperatures quickly or become ill-tempered. I am not to be of aggressive temperament. I need to be slow to burst into anger (if at all). I should not blow-up or snap-out on people for trivialities. Understanding this I quickly arrive at the conclusion that my anger is never justified. There is no place in a Christian’s life for explosive and corrosive anger. I am mortified (as are many men) that I often battle with this emotion and behavior.
Forgiving
and love are pretty much self-explanatory. I will note that the word for
forgive in the Greek is χαριζόμενοι/charizomenoi and means not only to forgive
but also to treat another person with grace. Forgiveness with grace is
therefore like unto God. Not only would I be forgiving in this context but I
would be showing favor to the person forgiven like a true friend…a brother or
sister.
I will admit
outright that I continue to struggle with all of these, some more than others. The devil
wants to convince me that their very presence tells me I am not saved. This
isn’t true, it means I am a sinner saved by grace and I am a long way from my own righteousness. It means it is not my actions that save me but Jesus’ work at the cross.
My trek towards holiness is a slow progression of the work of the Holy Spirit
in me.
I now realize this process can be horribly slow and depending on indwelling sin, it can sometimes actually go backwards as it seems to be doing now. But I continue to pray, try to embody Scripture and hold out hope in the One that has saved me. I hold out hope that He will continue to do a mighty work in me so that I will be an asset to the Kingdom and not a liability.
I now realize this process can be horribly slow and depending on indwelling sin, it can sometimes actually go backwards as it seems to be doing now. But I continue to pray, try to embody Scripture and hold out hope in the One that has saved me. I hold out hope that He will continue to do a mighty work in me so that I will be an asset to the Kingdom and not a liability.
Kittel,
Gerhard, Geoffrey William Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich. Theological
Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids (Mich.): Eerdmans, 1995. Print.
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