Our news series “The Pursuit of Happiness” is a study of Matthew 5 where Jesus lays out a path to happiness that might seem counter intuitive at first.
The first step in that process is humility. CS Lewis says, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” For Bible Study on Wednesday we’ll dive into the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector that we mentioned from Luke 18:9-14.
We quickly see that our pride in our own work or accomplishments is one of the biggest hindrances in God blessing us. So how do we go from prideful to humble? Obviously it’s not something we can just do or it would become another good work that we would pridefully boast about. We also don’t need to put ourselves down. We’re already down. Humility just recognizes the truth.
We then looked at a few ways we can try to embrace that truth:
- We need to think more about Christ, and less about ourselves.
- We need to starve our pride. When people do give you a compliment, let it remind you of what God has done in you.
- We need to ask God for humility.
Lastly, we mentioned some signs to determine if we’re on the right track:
- Are you becoming more preoccupied with yourself or less? (Gal. 2:20)
- Are you growing in your wonder of Christ and your desire to be like Him? (2 Cor. 3:18).
- Are you able to rejoice even in situations that are unfair? (Rom. 8:17-18).
- Are you able to clearly see others strengths and virtue while admitting your own weaknesses and sin? (Phil. 2:3, Rom. 12:10)
- Do you spend time in prayer? (Matt. 7:7)
- Are you letting go of sin? (I Thes. 5:19-24)
- Are you thanking God in all situations? (I Thes. 5:16-18)
When you show up to God broken, you do not leave broken. God wants us to recognize our emptiness so that He can fill us. He wants us to admit our misery so that we can be blessed or made happy and content.
Join us this Sunday as we tackle Matthew 5:4, “Happy are the Sad”.