How should I see myself so I can walk humbly with my God?

Today's Precious Prodigal's Post = http://bit.ly/1DJiUPg

Title: How should I see myself so I can walk humbly with my God?

Hashtags: #walkhumbly #itsnotaboutyou

Precious Prodigal's Post for 4-8-15 = http://bit.ly/1y0iswP

Precious Prodigal's Post for 4-3-15 = http://bit.ly/1Gp8uGw

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Micah 6:8 “…and what doth the Lord require of thee…but to walk humbly with thy God?”

The third thing God requires of us is that we walk humbly with Him. Life and sometimes the people we love have a way of knocking us down, don’t they? And we all have our own long history of making mistakes ourselves. Sometimes we have been so humiliated, we can hardly be accused of not being humble. Can we?

You already know I think all of us are in recovery from something, and it doesn’t have to be alcohol or drugs. It could also be the loss of a loved one, a life-threatening illness, a divorce, or childhood trauma. And people who are doing the hard work of recovery may be taking a long look at their choices, their hurts, and their resentments.

The Bible cautions us to “not to think of [ourselves] more highly than [we] ought to think; but to think soberly…” (Rom 12:3) The NASB better translates that by saying we are to think as having “sound judgment.” And sound judgment means we look at things objectively and try to see ourselves as we really are.

I’ve talked about the two mirrors in my house before, but it’s worth repeating. The bathroom mirror over my vanity has soft lighting so my reflection is flattering. If it’s the only reflection I see, I don’t see any of my flaws. The foyer mirror, however, has direct light and it shows and exaggerates every imperfection. One hides every flaw and one exaggerates them, and neither is correct. The “real” Rita falls somewhere in between those two extremes.

That’s also true about our character flaws. In my experience, people tend to fall into two broad categories. Either they tend to think they’ve done nothing wrong or, conversely, they tend to think they haven’t done anything right. And the simple truth is neither of those things is correct either.

If I’m comparing myself to my prodigal, I look pretty good. However, that prodigal isn’t my measuring stick. The Lord Jesus Christ is. And comparing ourselves with Him will open our eyes and show us how far we have to go. If I find myself thinking I’m “more than” or “better than” someone else, it’s time for a wake up call because the best of us can’t compare with the true measuring stick. That kind of thinking is ego.

Then there are the people who are still beating themselves up for something they did 20, 30, or even 50 years ago. They can’t or won’t forgive themselves and are convinced what they did is the worst thing ever. Here’s where I gently tell you that this is about ego too; it’s just the reverse side of the same corrupt coin.

Whatever mistakes we made, whatever destructive things we did, whatever hurtful things we said…none of them deserve a life sentence of self-hate and beating ourselves up. If you’ve hurt someone, confess it to God, admit it to another person, and make an amends to the best of your ability. When you’ve done that, forgive yourself and…Let. It. Go.

Admitting there’s bad as well as good in our makeup is humbling rather than humiliating, and it will make us people of character rather than victims of circumstance. Not only is it empowering, but it will also enable us to “walk humbly with our God.”

Challenge for Today: What might happen if we, just for today, took an honest look at ourselves and realized we are neither the best nor the worst of people?

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[Praveen Parangi]

Some people walk humbly with the superior but are egoists toward the lower people. If we really realize the power of god we can be humble with everyone