Clothes With Humility

CLOTHE YOURSELVES WITH HUMILITY TOWARD ONE ANOTHER, BECAUSE, "GOD OPPOSES THE PROUD BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."1 Peter 5.5.

It is the proud and those with high self-esteem that wins the day in this world. Even today’s Church seems to have no place for the poor to whom the Son of God came leaving heaven’s wealth and glory to preach the gospel. The urban churches have become the temple of the rich, and the poor with only their two mites to give to God with nothing left to live, are out of place. We seem to have forgotten that we are the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ who unashamedly boasted in saying, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Lk 9.58).

One day I shook hands with an ordinary looking brother in a church and said, “God bless you!” He said, “Brother, you are the first person to shake my hand in this church which I have been attending for more than two years! The people seem to have time only for the rich!” God has prospered many urban churches and the members have become rich and even mega-rich. However, let us not forget the Bible has more negative things to say about the rich than the poor and warns us to be wary of riches! It is a pity that the Church has lost its bearing and we even have seminars for the millionaires and for the rich and those who want to be!

One of the tragedies of becoming rich is that wealth spawns pride. The church becomes the place to parade the world’s wealth. Who owns the costliest cars, who dresses in the most fashionable way and even who gives the most offerings, all become points of competition. Your boasting ceases to be in the Lord but in the abundance of your possessions. Your wealth dictates your behavior. Meekness, gentleness and politeness go out from your relationship and instead pride, arrogance and boasting take their place.

An old acquaintance of mine recently sent me a rude letter because he didn’t like something I wrote to him. He mentioned that he was running a very successful business and I believe that was the reason for his outburst. I re-read my letter but I couldn’t find anything purposely offending. But as a Christian, I decided to eat humble pie and do what the Lord taught us to do - "if you…your brother has something against you,… go and be reconciled to your brother” (Mt 5.23). I wrote him a note saying, “I’m sorry if my letter offended you.” Recently, a very gifted young man I cared for in many ways, including giving financial help for two years when he was down, was upset with me for demanding better integrity. Angrily he walked out on me! Of course he has now become successful in many ways. When I quoted to him the above verse, he sent me an SMS saying “I have forgiven you!” I wonder whether that was what the Lord meant when He said, "if your brother has something against you,… go and be reconciled to your brother”.

Pray with me: Dear Lord, help me to clothe myself with humility toward others because You oppose the proud but give grace to the humble. Amen.