“When you position your life to serve, you take a posture of humility, and humility releases grace into your life.”- Banning Liebscher
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”- Philippians 2:3-4 (NKJV)
In Chapter 10 (“The Divine Exchange”) of Rooted, Banning Liebscher explores four rewards of serving. Throughout this chapter, Pastor Liebscher discusses grace, joy, safety, and promotion. Today the author begins with grace.
As James 4:6 states, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” However, Banning observes, many people mistakenly believe that humble service means that you neglect your own interests or needs. As a result, those people burn out on serving. That’s because they fail to take care of themselves or set healthy limits. And when you struggle to value yourself, you look for your identity and value through serving.
In addition, Pastor Liebscher asserts, devaluing your life creates a false humility. Thus, you’re not in position to receive the grace of God. However, Jesus’ humility represents the type of humility that attracts God’s grace into our lives. And deeming others as better than ourselves requires maintaining a frame of mind that life isn’t about us. Humble service, then, connects us to the kingdom and the body of Christ. To play a vital part, it’s crucial that, Banning states, we “keep our destiny and call in the context of outward focus, the context of serving.”
Otherwise, we very easily turn inward without even realizing it. Then our life, call, passion, destiny, and dreams quickly lose their outward focus.
Today’s question: What Scriptures help you maintain a posture of humility? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The joy of Jesus remains”
Coming Monday: the new Short Meditation, “Building the wall in front of you”
