Freedom of Humility

"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" James 4:6

To humble oneself is to become free.  Long ago, Adam and Eve took from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in order to become like God.  This was an entering into bondage and oppression to sin.  This desire to become like God by knowing good and evil is a fundamental hinderance to experiencing fullness of life.  God made us to be dependent, needy, and ignorant.  Not because He wanted us to be weak or powerless, but because when we stand in proper relationship to an almighty and all knowing God, that is what we are and should be.  Whenever we seek to be independent, to need nothing but ourselves, and to know all things, we jeopardize that intended relationship with God.   We build our existence on lies rather than the truth.  This sets us up for tragedy.  To trust in that which is mortal, perishable, limited, and failing is to build my house on that which will - in due time and under due pressure - crumble to the ground.  It is to place my bet on a horse that cannot even finish the race without injury to self and others.  You see, God intends us to be dependent, needy, and ignorant because his plan is to provide us with everything we need.  Not that we would posses it for ourselves but that we might find it in him and thereby be in fellowship with him.  Dependence, neediness, and ignorance are only negative terms for those who have no provider, no lover and no teacher!  There was one person who had for himself all independence, who needed nothing at all from any creature, and who knew all things in heaven and earth.  He is the Messiah.  And yet in Jesus Christ we find one who chose to humble himself in the form of a slave.  Let's be real with ourselves: all have taken from the tree and all have pursued self-sufficiency and endless knowledge.  There is no going back.  But like Christ, we can chose humility.  Just as we chose self over God and others, we can choose to spiritually cover ourselves in sackcloth and ashes and to repent.  We can resolve to know nothing and need no one but Christ himself.  We can take on the attitude that Christ adopted, that though he was in the form of God he did not count it as something to be exploited but humbled himself (Phil. 2).  By choosing humility we come closest to realizing the perfect relationship with God, self, and others that our Creator originally desired.  We free ourselves from the tyranny of being right, of taking care of ourselves, and of being responsible for determining good and evil in every situation.  By choosing humility we open our lives to the possibility of being provided for by the one who lacks nothing, of being taught in every moment by the maker of all things, and of receiving constant affection by the lover of our lives.

"Almighty God, I have chosen to try and be god over my own life and other's lives as well.  I have been more arrogant than I know by pursuing self-reliance, perfect knowledge, and independence apart from you.  Forgive me for wasting my life in such ways.  I long for the likeness of your son to reign in me through the power of my baptism.  I long to be in relationship with you the way you intend.  Amen."