Last Friday I talked about maturity in the faith, and how we need to remember that maturity isn't about age, but about how much we know, but today I am going to talk about humbling yourself. Now, I know I said I would have posted it on Monday and it's currently Tuesday, but I couldn't really write yesterday.
In my previous article, I started out by talking about society, and what society views maturity as. Well, today I will also be talking about that. See, the world seems to think that the smarter you are, and how much you opinionate yourself and raise yourself up, the better and more mature a person you are. Let's see what the Bible has to say about that. The Bible says, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." in Matthew 23:12 The verse is very self-explanatory. If we are always trying to be better than everyone else, then basically we are being incredibly childish. Now, there's nothing wrong with always trying to improve. In 1 Corinthians 9 it talks about how we should live our lives as if only one person could go to heaven. We need to always strive to be better people, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about raising ourselves above others.
Luke 18:20-24 talks about the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, and how they both prayed to God. The Bible says, "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. (11)The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterous, or even like this tax collector. (12) I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' (13) But the tax collector, standing a far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' (14) I told you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
It doesn't matter who you are, or what you do, if you are humble, then you will be exalted in God's eyes. Maybe not man's, but that whose opinion would you favor, the Creator, or the created? Now, we don't necessarily have to have bad self estime, but humble ourselves. We need to make sure that we are not only mature in the faith, but are mature with our faith, and not think highly of ourselves just because we're Christians.
