December 12, 2023
Topic: THE BIRTH OF JESUS: LESSON ON HUMILITY AND OBEDIENCE – Titles, Ranks and Status
Text: 1 Corinthians 4: 1-7
Memory Verse: For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? (1 Corinthians 4: 7NIV)
Titles, ranks, and status confer recognitions and advantages in society. As human beings, we strive, plan and spend great deals of our lives to prepare, study, and strategize to attain them. However, the moment we realize the true purpose and the calling of our lives, our priorities begin to change. Becoming disciples of Jesus make us aware of our frailties and vulnerabilities and that we are simply products of Grace. Our sense of pride and love for the things of the world gradually erode.
In I Thessalonians 5:18, Apostle Paul says that in all circumstances, we should give thanks. In humble submission, we reflect on the grace by which we are freely justified (Rom 3:24) and are saved (Eph 2:8); an easily available gift but paid in blood by Christ. 2 Cor 8:9 tells us further what Christ in humility did for us, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor; so that you through his poverty might become rich and in obedience to the will of the Father allowed himself to be hung on the cross for us; declaring in John 19:30 that “It is finished”
Humility makes us aware of our own shortcomings and limitations. It makes us recognize and acknowledge the strength of others. It makes us work towards putting the need of others before our own. It makes us intentionally good listeners, who create and give quality time to interact with the challenges of others. The more titles, ranks and privileges we achieve, the more we are ready to yield ourselves in His service. Accept all, serve all and prefer all.
Consider this:
How do persons that are subordinate to me see me? Do I make myself available in love and interact with their challenges and concerns?
Prayer: Precious Lord, please help me to carefully examine myself and lead be in being an example of your love to people that are less privileged than I am.