{"id":3118,"date":"2019-02-04T19:20:23","date_gmt":"2019-02-04T19:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/?p=3118"},"modified":"2020-12-31T07:14:19","modified_gmt":"2020-12-31T13:14:19","slug":"humility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/humility\/","title":{"rendered":"Humility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pride vs. humility<\/h3>\n

HUMILITY<\/em>\u2026is a hard pill to swallow. You have heard the term \u2018humble pie\u2019. I\u2019ve experienced a lot of it over my lifetime. It\u2019s often used in the phrase\u2014\u2018eat humble pie\u2019. It is a figurative serving of humiliation usually in the form of a forced submission, apology or retraction. I\u2019ve noted that most, if not all, American politicians are not familiar with this. Just saying!<\/p>\n

But seriously, pride seems to get in the way of true humility. It is most men\u2019s biggest enemy. And it is so subtle in many ways. Your stature, intelligence, degrees, position in the workplace, beautiful wife and kids, bank account, clothing, golf handicap, club, athletic skill, auto, boat, house\u2014you name it. Are any of these things wrong unto themselves; absolutely not. Then how can something good create pride? Well, it\u2019s how we view them and use them. Most of us measure our value in terms of what we possess, leading us to compare and judge others. Thus suffocating any reasonable level of humility. O, and we can even take pride in our humility.<\/p>\n

A Philippians 2 man<\/h3>\n

I was privileged to introduce a friend, John Roper, at the Dallas Real Estate Ministries\u2019 luncheon last week as he gave a riveting testimony. As I was preparing my thoughts, the Lord seemed to lead me to Philippians 2:5\u201311<\/a>. I commented that I believe John to be a Philippians 2 man. What does that model look like? Let\u2019s go there and unpack the qualities. I\u2019ll tell you up front, it doesn\u2019t contain any level of pride.<\/p>\n

The verses are written by Paul who, when writing to the Corinthians, said to \u201cimitate him, as he imitates Christ\u201d. (I Cor. 11.1<\/a>) The Philippians verses are specifically about Jesus, the God\/man. He is our perfect model. Roper, and Paul, would quickly tell you; they are less than perfect but they are always in pursuit of this level of character. What are the traits of a Philippians 2 man? Let\u2019s allow the scriptures to show us.<\/p>\n

It essentially starts with a \u2018state of mind\u2019. \u201cLet this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.\u201d<\/strong> <\/em>Jesus was the Creator God in human flesh\u2014willfully deciding to lay his all-powerful position aside while here on earth; actually it says, he \u201cemptied himself\u201d<\/strong><\/em>. He considered himself of no reputation. Pause\u2014get your mind around that! It goes on. \u201cHe took the form of a servant.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> Wow! And then he set his mind to do what?…\u201chumble himself\u201d<\/strong><\/em>. Which allows him to \u201cbecome obedient\u201d<\/strong><\/em>. Of course, obedient to his Father\u2019s will. And ultimately, what was that? Being led to \u201cthe point of death\u201d<\/strong><\/em>. And not just any form of death; \u201ceven death on a cross\u201d<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Paul exhorts the Philippians and now us. \u201cDo nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> (vss. 3,4 ESV). By doing so, we are modeling Christlikeness. Being the one who sets his mind to serve, rather than being served. So hard, but so rewarding!<\/p>\n

Deferred gratification<\/h3>\n

And what did Jesus accomplish by his \u2018mindset\u2019? Just the salvation for a lost world, you and me! As we see, Jesus was all about deferred gratification. And so should we be. How did God, the Father, reward him? Simply by \u201cexalting him and bestowing on him the name that is above every name\u2026with every person eventually confessing him as Lord\u201d<\/strong><\/em> And for what ultimate purpose did Jesus really set his mind to do all this emptying, humbling and suffering for us? \u201cTo the glory of the Father\u201d.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Men, dads, do you want to lead a deeply fulfilling life? And impact several generations after you; then \u201chave this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus\u201d<\/strong><\/em>. I see this in the Apostle Paul, and I have witnessed it in John Roper.
\nAll to the glory of God! That\u2019s what a Philippians 2 man resembles. May we all set our minds on this manner of living. It\u2019ll change your world, and the world around you. Because it is simply done out of love\u2014for the Father, our families and our circle of influence. And you\u2019ll have to eat a lot less of that \u2018humble pie\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pride vs. humility HUMILITY\u2026is a hard pill to swallow. You have heard the term \u2018humble pie\u2019. I\u2019ve experienced a lot of it over my lifetime. It\u2019s often used in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,107],"tags":[180,60,133,46],"post_template_type":[95],"pillar":[],"study_type":[],"acf":[],"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3118"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3118"},{"taxonomy":"post_template_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_template_type?post=3118"},{"taxonomy":"pillar","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pillar?post=3118"},{"taxonomy":"study_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/study_type?post=3118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}