Message: The Pathway: Humility
Text: James 4:6
Introduction
If we are going to walk in the Spirit, we must be emptied of self. The largest part of self is our ego or pride. God actively resists the proud, but He pours out His grace on the humble. If we want to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, we must be humble.
What is pride?
The Hebrew word for pride comes from a word that means “swelling.” Paul speaks of being “swollen with conceit.” Simply put pride is an inaccurate view or inflated (swollen) view of self.
What is humility?
We can wrongly believe that humility is a deflated view of self. However, many times this is a manifestation of pride as well. As we downplay the truth, we are still portraying an inaccurate view of self (pride.) Humility is an accurate view of self. It has been described as letting others see what you really are. This can only be accomplished by faith:
– Pride = inaccurate belief
– Humility = accurate belief
How do I know who I am?
As we look through several Scriptures, we must remember four things:
– I must believe God
– I must believe my own actions
– I must believe the testimony of others
– I must not believe my own judgement of myself
The Scriptures continually affirm that I am a sinner. My actions affirm this as well. Other people can testify continually to how sinful I am. However, my ego likes to downplay certain evidence and testimonies while inflating others. I cannot believe my own testimony or allow myself to be the judge.
The Gospel
There are three things we must believe in order to be humble and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit:
1. Who I am apart from Christ. I am a sinner.
2. What Christ has done for me. He died for my sin; He rose again to empower me.
3. Who I am in Christ. I am morally perfect.
My pride wants to reject who I am apart from Christ, so I therefore do not fully embrace what Christ has done for me or who I now am in Christ. Humility leads me to reject my flesh in order to walk in the Spirit.
Application:
This is how we overcome sin. We humbly acknowledge what we are apart from Christ. This leads us to reject living by the flesh and embrace the new life we have in Christ, the life of the Spirit.
– Who are you apart from Christ?
– What has Christ done for you?
– Who are you now in Christ?
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