Check Your Attitude

Written by cycleguy on November 11th, 2010

Have you ever heard the story about the pastor who was voted the most humble pastor in America?  His congregation gave him a medal that said, “To the most humble pastor in America.”  The following Sunday they took it away from him because he wore it.  🙂  Yeah, I know cheeeezzzy but it tells the difficulty of putting a handle on humility.   Here are a few quotes I found:

“The only hope of a decreasing self is an increasing Christ.” F.B.Meyer

“If you’re humble, you don’t write a book on how humble you are, with twelve life-sized pictures in it.”

“The best protection one can have from the devil and his schemes is a humble heart.”  Jonathan Edwards

In truth, most of us don’t flaunt our self-centeredness openly, but secretly there are some who believe the world revolves around them.   Pride is at the core of much of what we do.  Think not?  How did you react the last time you had to stand in line waiting for someone who was slower than you thought they should be?   Humility is the antidote to pride.

And how many times have you looked around at what others have-materially, family, health, job-and not grown a tad bit resentful for what they have you don’t have?  I gotta admit that there have been times I have grown resentful-toward them AND God-because they have something I don’t.  The “life isn’t fair” moniker only goes so far, you know?  The cure for resentment?  Gratitude.

This Sunday I am continuing my three-part series of “In This Corner”  with a sermon I am calling Attitude Exchange, allowing Humility to square off against Pride and Gratitude to square off against Resentment.  This may not “turn your crank” but I do hope these short lessons will:

  • Stop looking at yourself and start looking at God.
  • Stop looking at the past and start looking at the future.
  • Stop looking at the reasons and start looking at the promises.

So…if you were sitting in on this sermon which one would you struggle with the most?  Which one would hit you “in the kisser?”  Feel free to share your thoughts and if they fit I may use them Sunday morning.  I would love to hear from you.

Thanks again to Dan Drewes for the banner.  And thank you for praying for me this weekend.

 

16 Comments so far ↓

  1. Michael says:

    Really been praying for you and your church Bill. Love you guys.

  2. JamesBrett says:

    i am by nature (i guess we all are, though i feel i may have some extra inclination) a selfish person. for the longest time i didn’t want to marry (i married at 27) because it would limit me in what i wanted to do. and then i didn’t want to have kids yet, because again it would limit me in what i would do. not that i was wanting to do evil things — except that because they were primarily in service to me, i suppose they were at least to some extent evil.

    God has been working on this streak in me for some time, and surely will continue for as long as i’m living. i try to work with him on it, allowing the Spirit to transform me. but it’s a battle some days.

    • cycleguy says:

      Thanks Brett for your honesty. I too struggle with this and have found that it is a lifelong battle. Not that I really have anything to be arrogant about but there it is. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

  3. Ike says:

    Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Philippians 2:3

    “Spiritual pride is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of Christianity. It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit, to darken the mind and mislead the judgment. It is the main source of all the mischief the devil introduces, to clog and hinder a work of God.

    Spiritual pride tends to speak of other persons’ sins with bitterness or with laughter and levity and an air of contempt. But pure Christian humility rather tends either to be silent about these problems or to speak of them with grief and pity. Spiritual pride is very apt to suspect others, but a humble Christian is most guarded about himself. He is as suspicious of nothing in the world as he is of his own heart. The proud person is apt to find fault with other believers, that they are low in grace, and to be much in observing how cold and dead they are and to be quick to note their deficiencies. But the humble Christian has so much to do at home and sees so much evil in his own heart and is so concerned about it that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts. He is apt to esteem others better than himself.”

    Jonathan Edwards, Works (Edinburgh, 1979), I:398-400

    • cycleguy says:

      Looks like Ike that you have found a more complete quote by Edwards than I found or used. He speaks truth. Thanks for adding this and for oommenting.

  4. lindaM says:

    Hi Bill,

    “He is as suspicious of nothing in the world as he is of his own heart.”
    This quote that Ike has put in his blog today reminds me of the verse in Jer. 17:9 ‘the heart is deceitful above all things’

    Im thinking of ‘humble’ as being submitted and obedient to God and his commands.
    A word picture that I have is of a man wanting and believing that he holds God in his palm of his hand, vs the truth, being that God is the one that is holding that man and that man’s entire future in His hand.

    “humble yourselves, threfore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” 1Peter 5:6

    “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” 1Peter 5:5

    We need to get a really clear picture of who God is versus who we are. He is the Creator, we are the creation.

    The man in this word picture wants superiority. He wants control, he wants the say and he believes that he has this.
    A humble man has learned that God is superior, that God has control, and that God has the say and the last word.

    • cycleguy says:

      May I, may we all, become that humble man/person who realizes that God is the superior one not me; that God is the One in control not me; and that ultimately God has the last word. Thanks Linda for a good word.

  5. Jim F. says:

    Sounds like a challenging message – by the way – humility is my greatest quality! 🙂

  6. Jan Frame says:

    Looking forward to hearing this message Sunday, yep, we will be there & Zach has said he will come with us!
    I have a problem with reliving the past, thinking about it, going through the if onlys or feeling very badly about things I did. That’s one of my biggest obstacles, overcoming my past. Also the scripture Phil. 2:3 that Ike quoted is one I’ve had in my memory bank since doing your Experiencing God class!
    Another great post Bill. See you Sunday!

    • cycleguy says:

      YAHOOOOO!!!! So looking forward to that! We all have junk Jan from the past and do the if onlys but praise God He makes us new!! C U Sunday.

  7. Doug says:

    Definetly looking at the past…if only I would have done such and such I would have the things I don’t have now. Thanks for the post.