Salvation Summaries

I recently read a book, The Power of a Humble Life, by Richard E. Simons III, and it was a wake-up call for me on a problem I’ve had for many years, but didn’t realize it until now.

This problem affects how we live our life, our relationship with others, and with God.  It can hold a person back from turning to God for salvation despite having heard the gospel message over and over. It can cause young Christians to backslide and pursue the ways of the world and self apart from God. It can limit the spiritual growth of older Christians. 

What is this problem?  Pride.  What is the antidote according to Simons? Humility.

Below are notes I took from Simons’ book.  I did not put each one in quotes, and paraphrased some.  I simply arranged these into an order that made sense to me.  Any value you derive from reading this post is attributed to him, and I do not want my notes below to deter you from buying or downloading his book.      

Our dilemma

• We feel compelled to impress other people
• We always compare ourselves with others
• We worry excessively about what other people will think of me.  Winning the applause and admiration of others can be all consuming. 
• We long for recognition from others over our achievements
• We may hide our true selves from others behind a pretty, smiling face that we put on to impress.
• We can’t be transparent and vulnerable with anyone since we cannot discuss our inadequacies, struggles and fears, as this would take away from our appearance of always being happy.
• We live in a world where success today has more to do with public image and the appearance of success rather than the quality of our work and our character.  Our culture has changed from people thinking humbly of themselves to one that encourages people to see themselves as “the center of the universe.” Social media has become an outlet to promote oneself and to glorify self. 
• We do not look to God to give us our worth and significance; we are addicted to the approval of others (thus, we are trying to impress the wrong audience).
• We can’t find peace in our lives because of the constant worry about what others think of me. We can’t be content with who we are.

What is the cause of our dilemma?  Pride.

Pride

• It’s a turn off when you see it in someone else, but we can rarely see it in ourselves
• Arrogance, conceit, feeling of superiority; too high view of oneself
• Arrogance is looking at your life, abilities, achievements and thinking all of this is from your strength and power and ability; humility helps you recognize that all you are and all you have is a gift from God and a result of other people contributing to your life. 
• A proud person seeks to be independent of God.  We want to achieve great things, achieve prosperity, find purpose and meaning in life all without God.

God wants us to be humble and depend on Him rather than being proud and live without Him

• Proverbs 16:5  The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.
• Proverbs 29:23  Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.
• Psalm 25:8-9  The LORD is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray.  ⁹ He leads the humble in what is right, teaching them his way.
• James 4:9-10 When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.
• 1 Peter 5:5-7  You younger men, accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for “God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble.”  ⁶ So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you.  ⁷ Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.

What is the remedy for the cancer of pride?  Humility.

• Philippians 2:3-5  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  ⁴ Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  ⁵ Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…
• Selfish ambition means “vainglory.”  We strive for glory or importance in the eyes of others.  We strive to gain approval of others.  The Bible tells us not to do this. 

Examples of people who were successful due in (large) part to their humility

• CS Lewis dreamed of being admired by his students and yearned to be a well-known writer, but when he became a Christian he seemed to forget about himself and his desire for fame, and ironically, that’s when he became famous. 
• James Wooden (the greatest coach of the 20^th century per ESPN)
• Dwight Eisenhower
• Martin Luther King, Jr
• Ronald Reagan
• Katharine Graham

Who was the humblest person to have ever lived? Jesus.

• He was the meekest and lowliest of men.
• He was kind and compassionate towards sinners. 
• He was a servant who washed His disciples’ feet.
• He allowed himself to die a humiliating death on a cross.  He asked God the Father to forgive those who were executing him. 

How to be humble

• Recognize your pride
• Realize and accept that you are not in control of most things (how you look, your intelligence and talent, your health, aging, when and how we die, etc.). Because you are not in control, you need to turn to God who is.  Humility begins when we you see your need for God. 
• Understand that God deserves the credit for all that we are and have. If we believe it comes from ourselves, we will become proud and have no place for God in our lives.
• Seek God’s mindset and His view of life.
• Confess your sins with humility before God to have a close and growing relationship with Him.  Declare your need for Him.
• Surrender yourself to God in order to find your life and live it to the fullest. Turn your heart away from self and towards God.
• Abstain from making your good deeds and qualities known; ask God to enable you to tame your hunger for fame and the attention of others
• Be thankful for what God has done in your life
• Be grateful for others and how they have contributed to your life
• Understand that when you get to the end of your life, there is only one opinion that will matter (God’s).   
• Humility is a choice that we must make and then pursue.  It is a decision of our will.

Benefits of being Humble

• You are at peace with who you are in the eyes of others. 
• You are content with your position in life and what you have.