What Jesus taught the disciples to abandon was not the pursuit of excellence but the path of self-exaltation.
Commentary from the In Touch devotional by Charles Stanley, February 19, 2023.
Humility and Excellence vs. Self-Exaltation
Humility
The Golden Rule
Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. Romans 15:2.
The fellowship of believers
Some Christians try to function independently because that’s easier than living in humility, gentleness, and patience with fellow believers. But we need each other. The fellowship of believers is an important part of God’s design for our spiritual growth.
Commentary from the In Touch devotional by Charles Stanley, June 15, 2019.
The attitude of a saint
The Apostle Paul had a mindset that Christians are wise to emulate (1 Corinthians 11:1). It included: Humility. Pride can’t exist in the heart of a believer who truly grasps God’s mercy. A sense of obligation. Paul understood how far God’s grace had brought him. Likewise, each one of us have been forgiven much. An awareness of dependence. Paul desired more of Jesus and none of himself (Philippians 3:4-8). A spirit of absolute confidence. Even at the end of Paul’s life, he remained confident in the Lord and looked forward to his eternal reward (2 Timothy 4:6-8). Praise the Lord for all He has done, and let it motivate you to work for His kingdom. May the grace He showers on you never be in vain (1 Corinthians 15:10).
Commentary from the In Touch devotional by Charles Stanley, May 26, 2022.
What is Needed for the Waiting
In Psalm 25, we see David praying for protection and guidance as he waits for God. We all know how difficult waiting is during times of illness, danger, trouble, or confusion. But God can use these situations to develop the virtues He desires in our lives.
Faith. The Lord’s ways are nothing like ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). His purposes are higher and eternal, whereas our desires are usually immediate and earthly. Even when we don’t understand why God delays, we can trust in His character and faithfulness, knowing He’ll do what’s best.
Humility. Since the Christian life is God-directed rather than self-directed, submission to whatever He ordains for us requires humility. For this reason, we must acknowledge that the Lord is our Master and we’re totally dependent on Him.
Patience. In Scripture, this word means “long-suffering” or “forbearance.” It’s spiritual fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in us as we wait and trust God to intervene at the right time (Galatians 5:22-23).
Are you willing to remain in your current position until the Lord acts on your behalf? Waiting on God isn’t passive or idle. It takes a determined focus on His wisdom, goodness, and faithfulness no matter how challenging a situation may seem.
The In Touch devotional by Charles Stanley, June 13, 2022.
Whatever You Do
1 Corinthians 10:31 expresses purity of heart. We have no rights because we no longer ‘own’ ourselves when we commit everything over to the Lord. For example, I have no right to good health, though I am responsible for living prudently with regard to health. I have no right to success in life, though I am responsible for pursuing excellence in whatever work God calls me to do. I have no right to be treated with fairness and dignity, though I am responsible for treating others with fairness and dignity (Matthew 7:12; 22:39). The Lord Jesus Christ now holds the right to my life, and He exercises it with perfect love and wisdom in such a way that good or bad treatment by others will be used to make me more like Him.
Commentary from the Masterwork Bible study, Spring 2021, The Blessing of Humility by Jerry Bridges.
Can You Pay?
Jesus tells a story of a debt that was owed in Matthew 18:23-35, and forgiveness and unforgiveness. Essentially saying, that as often as you are sinned against, you are to forgive. In the story one man had a very large debt, ten thousand talents, which was forgiven-and which today equals about six billion dollars. Another man owed a small debt to the man that was forgiven his large debt, but the man would not forgive the debt and had the man that owed a small debt thrown into prison.
We are all ten-thousand-talent debtors to God. Not a day passes without each of us sinning many times in thought, word, deed, or motive.
Commentary from the Masterwork Bible Study, Spring 2021, The Blessing of Humility by Jerry Bridges.
He cares for you
Christians are to cast all of their discontent, discouragement, despair, and suffering on the Lord, and trust Him for knowing what He’s doing with their lives. Along with submission (v. 5) and humility (vv. 5,6), trust in God is the third attitude necessary for victorious Christian living.
Commentary from the MacArthur study Bible, notes for 1 Peter 5:7.
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