Week long Humility focus DAY 6

"Marriage is the perfect testing grounds for Humility....."

Today the Lord has directed me to look at humility in my marriage. So far in my quest, when I have looked at humility and how to get better at it, I looked at my interactions with others. Work, Church, Friends, Employees etc etc....

After my study today I now am persuaded that Marriage is the most important and most effective training grounds for Humility in a persons life (if your married of course). If you think about it, it all starts and ends with the home.......and in my home it all starts and ends with my wife (after humility to God of course). The fact is when we consider humility most look directly at their interactions with "others" but I am saying that humility starts with God, then Home (Wife/Husband/Kids) then our interactions with others. I know that my "quest for humility" has made me a better husband but this improvement in my marriage has come as a result (after) my trial and error with others. I am not saying that's necessarily a bad thing but, my goodness! Think if that were reversed! What if I could say, my humility got better because of the time and energy I put into being a humble leader in my home, how I treated and loved my wife! WOW!

DAY 6: Today, I will work on being a humble leader in my home. I will work on my "humility" as it relates to leading my wife and kids! Today I will ask the question "How do I become better at humility in my marriage?"

*** for all you "manly" men out there that are cringing right now........... Some of the BEST most EFFECTIVE and SUCCESSFUL leaders in History lead in humility not personal strength. One of the best current examples of humble leadership today is Tim Tebow..........the best of all time? How bout Jesus Christ.**** Humility is not a bad word for a "man", it might be the best word.

Week long Humility focus DAY 5

Psalms 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits....

The fact that I woke up this morning, that I was able to get out of my bed, take a shower, and put on clothes. The fact that I was able to get to and from work safely; the fact that I  have a job to go to each day each day, food on the table to eat, clothes on my back, the ability to read this blog and be in my right mind, how about the ability to even see and read this blog; the fact that God has given me completely undeserved and unearned MERCY & GRACE; and especially the fact that God sent his only begotten Son to redeem us of our sins. These are just the beginning of blessings we all take for granted on a daily basis.

DAY 5: Today I will humble myself before my God and be VERY thankful for the blessings I have. I will consider others needs before my own.
You know, in Matthew 25 is the story of the Sheep and Goats.........If you want to be humbled I want to challenge you to look at the attached picture and then read Matthew 25:31-46.

WOW! How prideful a man am I, that I would complain about anything. All you have to do is read my blog from yesterday and you can see just how much work I need in this area of Humility.
Lord forgive me.....

Week long Humility focus DAY 4

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. .....

Continuing my week long focus on Humility. The Lord directed me to read Colossians 3 this morning. It talks about several things, all very hard verses to study.....why? Because WE KNOW EXACTLY what they mean ..... ie: no lexicon or "original Greek" study needed here.....never the less.... near the end it talks about "slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters", then it says "whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men".
The Question was raised in my heart....."am I dogging it?". I have to admit, being a small business owner in the worst economy since the great depression there are weeks where I literally put in 50-60 hours of hard work and get paid $0 for it. Most weeks my minimum wage crew gets paid more than I do. Honestly.... It wears on me big time. A few weeks here and there are expected but 3+ years in a row?

DAY 4: Today I will "work heartily as for the Lord and not for men". Why is this "humble"? Because everything inside of me wants to say, what do I get out of it, how will I benefit? Whether its pay, recognition, respect or just satisfaction we all want something out of what we do. If we don't get it our pride says, "whats in it for me?". God says, do it for me and you will be rewarded!    

Blessing!

Week long Humility focus DAY 3

Feeling very blessed and humbled today thinking of my Wife. We spent the night last night in the ER and it reminded me just how strong, amazing, loving, selfless and completely blessed I am that God allowed me to be her husband. Hospitals dont bring the best memories and when our kids are there fear can creep in.......She was is and will be an amazingly strong Women and I am literally humbled that I get to go home to her tonight.

Continuing my week long Humility focus.....I want to talk to the Men out there. Men, how many times have we let our pride hurt our wife's or even make them stumble in their faith or love for us. Pride is a big ugly monster that can terrorize our homes.

DAY 3: Today, I will put my wife's needs above and before my own. Men, will you join me? Lets get in the kitchen of our homes and make some humble pie for dinner! Blessings!

Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; 26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.

Week long Humility focus DAY 2

My week long Humility quest day 2: Yesterday went well. Its amazing when you hold back and reserve reaction to something. It allows God to work. If you jump to conclusions or act quickly you take God out of the picture......I LOVE what Ann Germany said that she got from a friend, "Lord put one hand around my shoulder and the other over my mouth!". LOVE IT!
TODAY: I want to "serve". Not just help out or jump in where needed. I want to serve and expect nothing in return. A lot of times we "serve" becuase we will somehow benefit from it. Whether, its recognition or even self esteem benefit. Today, I want to serve with the least benefit possible. This also ties into sin. Have you ever had a "good day" and because you were good you expected God to bless you in some way, and when He didn't you were disappointed? Guilty as charged :)
This is especially true when someone is struggling with a sin and is usually part of the reason they fall the next chance they get. Expecting God to say "Good Job" and when it does not come there is disappointment/discouragement. Well, I have learned that that disappointment is actually pride. 

DAY 2: Today, I will serve with no expectation of anything.
Will you join me?
Blessings!

Week long Humility focus DAY 1

I had some great responses to my question "how can we become better at Humility". I thought that the some of the responses were leaning to If you seek God's will and you become more like Christ you will.... as a result, become more humble. Kind of like when you pray as a non-believer you would ask for a Lamborghini but as a follower of Christ you would just ask for transportation. Although I think that's true and a great answer, I do think that there are practical "drills" or "exercises" (for lack of a better word) that we could do to become better at humility. Dig deep friends.....I want to ask again, what can we do (application) to become better at Humility? This week I will post 1 thing a day that I will do to practice humility. I want you to join me and post your ideas as well. We can ALL become better at this and in my study its looking more and more like Pride is the largest reason we fall. Thanks for participating!

DAY 1: I like what my friends Rachel and Taylor said. ......"A truly wise person uses few words"..."disregarding another person's faults preserves love, telling about them separates close friends"-proverbs 17:27,9

Today, I will shut up and let God take care of some issues that I have no control over and I wish (and pray) that I did. ........Today is a great day to practice this one. :)TODAY: I like what Rachel and Taylor said. ......"A truly wise person uses few words"..."disregarding another person's faults preserves love, telling about them separates close friends"-proverbs 17:27,9

How can one get "better" at humility?

"How does one become better at Humility?". I'm looking for practical applications to improve. Yesterdays post might have been a little confusing but the point was: this should be an easy question for "Christians" to answer. for example, if I asked the question "how does one get better at basketball" the answer would be easy....practice, and by practice I mean, passing drills, lay ups, free throws etc etc.... practical application that can help me improve.
Christians should be able to answer "How does one become better at Humility". Not only be able to easily answer but practice it daily. I admit, I was stumped and had to think about it. I want to know what you think.
Answer this question in this post......."how does ones become better at Humility?"

Humility for "dummies"

It seems that there is a "how to" book on just about everything. I could ask any of you how to get better at just about anything and there would probably be a good answer on "how to". That said, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU! How does one get better at Humility? Seriously, I want practical applications that will help me get better at Humility. Dont have a good answer right off the top of your head? Should you? It seems like it should be an easy question for a "Christian". Honestly, I was sitting with a prominent Christian today and we were both....for all intents and purposes....Stumped. Sure we brainstormed, read some scripture and thought of some good ideas. But shouldn't it be easier? shouldn't we know how to? shouldn't we practice it daily?!? I know I was "humbled" by the question today. what are YOUR thoughts? Seriously, I want to know. Answer on this post.......that is, if you are humble enough to take the challenge. :)