Humility

In the gospel of Luke, chapter 18, verses 9 – 14, Jesus shares a parable emphasizing the importance of humility before God. It may be easy for Christians to feel like the Pharisee, who was so enthused with how good he was. It’s easy to think we are better than we are because of our view of God. It’s easy to think, as Christians, we are better than “sinners.” Yet, Jesus reminds us that no matter how much following Him improves our personal being, we are still sinners, still people who struggle with sin. We can live with sin and think we are ok, but we are not ok. We need God’s forgiveness daily. We need to own up to our sin and seek His help daily. Sin is treacherous and addictive. Paul refers to a Christian’s life’s struggles as fighting the good fight. It would be great to be able to say I am so very good. Sadly, I’m not. I need Jesus every day, not just to seek His forgiveness but to seek His help in fighting temptation. The more temptation and sin takes control, the more the need to fight, the greater the need for humble surrender to Jesus for help. Some battles can be managed easily. Others may be harder and of longer duration. Either way, humility as a sinner before God is essential. He loves us and wants us but only if we are humble before Him seeking His mercy and grace.