Ever So Humble part 4
When you approach things with a humble heart, you are thinking about others and not yourself. And more specifically, you are thinking about the NEEDS of others. That's the difference between being self-centered and Jesus-centered (people-centered). Jesus loved His disciples so much, He didn't think anything of getting down on His hands and knees (humiliating Himself) and washing their feet. All He cared about was making sure they were clean. That's what love does. That's what love IS. Love is about doing whatever it takes to meet a need. See a need, and if you meet it... meet it. That's love. Giving everything you have and everything you are to someone else. Treating them the way you would like to be treated. Which, in a word, means being kind to them. That's what we really want: We want someone to love us, and care about us, and be kind to us. But when you're coming from a place of lack--trying to GET something--it is impossible to love. Because love is never about getting. Love IS giving. For God so loved the world He GAVE His only begotten Son. And that Son loved us so much that He GAVE His life for us, and to us. Not because He could get anything FROM us, but because He wanted something FOR us. God wanted the best FOR us, so He gave the best TO us. He gave us His Spirit. The Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth. The truth that God is love and He loves you. The truth that the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. That, to me, is the ultimate truth of the universe. And it has nothing to do with what we do. So we have nothing to brag about. God doesn't love you because of what you do. He loves you because of who you are... and who HE is. God IS love. That's not just what He does, that's who He is. And as He is, so are we in this world. So love is not just what WE do, love is who WE are! Humbleness of mind is about letting the mind of Christ, that's already in us, BE in us. USING the mind of Christ. THINKING the thoughts of God. Thoughts of goodness, and not evil. Peace. An expected end that took place 2,000 years ago on the cross when the Old came to an end and the New burst forth. When we were filled with that Holy Spirit--the love receptor--and began to know and believe the love of God. See, God already loved us. He always has and He always will love us. Again, He IS love. That's all He CAN do. The problem was that we didn't know it. Couldn't believe it. God's love for us seemed too good to be true. Because we were judging ourselves by appearance. We were judging ourselves by what we did. Trying to earn something that can't be earned, and falling short every time. Reaching for the carrot but only getting the stick. "One thing you lack." Under the Law there is always one thing you lack. Because all the Law can do is point out what you've done wrong. It demands perfection without being able to produce perfection. But under the New Covenant its not about what you do. Its about who you are. Who you are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in you. If we brag, we brag about HIM. We brag about each other. We reach down to pick each other up instead of kicking each other when we're down. We're not afraid to do what it takes to pick each other up, and lift each other up!