Humility

Have you ever listened to a sermon that you really just thought didn't apply to you?  You sit their and you think of all the people that you wish were hearing the sermon right then.  Or, you look around to see if the people who should really be paying attention are listening.  I've found that those are the times when I really need to be listening.

It so happens that last week as I was listening to my good friend and pastor preach about humility, I wasn't exactly thinking that I needed to work on it.  You're probably thinking two different things right now; first, it is pretty ironic to listen to a message on humility while thinking you don't need to work on it and, second, do you seriously think you don't need to work on it?

As I left church that day and went on with my week, it became much more apparent that I did in fact have some issues with humility.  I'm not necessarily talking about "look at how great I am" kind of issues but more motivation issues.  Some things happened during the week that caused me to look at why I am doing certain things and/or why I was upset with certain things.  While evaluating these situations, I discovered that while there were some legitimate reasons/motivations, there were also some identity motivations.  In other words, I was finding identity, value, etc. in these things which is a form of pride and therefore a lack of humility.

My identity should be found in Christ alone and seeking it in other places is a lack of humility.  So, next time you are listening to a sermon that you think would be great for 'ol so and so to hear, remember that it may actually be great for you to hear.