"By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life."
Proverbs 22:4
This one is interesting, because probably a lot of people want the things promised here (riches, honor, and life), but humility seems an unlikely way towards those goals.
Because the immediate way to connect the behavior with the goal isn't clear, it requires faith to follow this path and to trust that God rewards us for doing the right things, even when sometimes in the world it looks like the bad guys are winning by gaining rewards from sin. Humility can be difficult, because by its very nature it requires the sublimation of our will in favor of the will of God and the welfare of others. ... I think though, that as we work at it, and the will of God becomes our will, that it turns out to not be a burden at all. When what God wants and what we want are the same, then there is no longer a burden, but rather a unity of purpose and a dedication to the things of God which naturally brings blessings.
Today, let's work on humility, not just by acting meek and going through the motions, but also by really thinking through what God wants and why, and how that differs from what we want, so that we can eventually understand and embrace God's perspective, joining with him and his purpose rather than just bowing to it as superior to our own. God's intention is not to have us discontent forever, wanting things that we can't have, but rather for us to learn to want better things, and finding fulfilment and joy in rising above our unworthy desires and replacing them with desires that are far superior in every way.
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