Pride leads to disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.
Know it all
I know some people who have an answer for everything. They are experts on everything from construction to BBQ to marital counseling and politics. No matter what the topic is they will tell you what should be done without ever asking what the real problem is. Their words bluster forth with arrogance and pride and anyone who does not do it their way is an idiot.
Needless to say, I do not really enjoy hanging out with these people. Instead of showing real concern for the things I may be struggling with, they only demean and demagogue.
On the other hand, I have accountability friends who humbly seek to understand my situations and then ask probing questions forcing me to discover my own flaws in an atmosphere of support and love. I love hanging out with these people. In fact we go on vacations with them and try to visit as often as we can. Every time I get together with people who are humble, I come away wiser.
I know what type of people I like to associate with, the question I have today is who am I? Am I too quick with answers instead of listening? Is my motif humility or pride?
God of grace, I ask that you forgive me when I fail to listen first, instead giving answers before I understand the situation. Help me to adopt a lifestyle of humble wisdom with disregard to who gets the credit. I ask that you would lift me up erasing my desire to lift up myself. – Dan Jones
PROVERBS 11:24-26
Give freely and become more wealthy;
be stingy and lose everything.
The generous will prosper;
those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.
People curse those who hoard their grain,
but they bless the one who sells in time of need.
Generosity
I wish proverbs were absolutes rather then generalizations! The good always prosper, live long, inherit the land, and enjoy the “good” life. Similarly, the more you give away the wealthier you become. Other proverbs, not to mention life experience confirm that such statements are neither promises or absolute facts.
For forty nine years I’ve given freely. I have tithed from my childhood paper route to my present pastoral assignment. I’ve helped people in need, given to missions, and opened my home and life to many others in my circle of acquaintances. I’ve never been a miser.
I think, however, if I’d been more stingy with my money and possessions, my bank accounts would be much larger, despite the recent stock market plunge. Strictly speaking, giving freely hasn’t produced increased wealth. But then, my life is only just past half way finished. So who knows about future financial prosperity? Maybe some recipient of my generosity will bequeath me lots of money.
But I don’t have to wait for the future or some inheritance to experience the broad strokes of this truism. It is true, the expenses of two young adult children and a decline in income (small churches pay less than larger ones) paint my financial picture more as a landscape of mountainous, even cliffside adventure rather than a dull glassed bank on some city corner. Still, whether fat and lean, each season of my life has included the generosity of family and friends. I have enjoyed more material blessings than I need and have received refreshment from the lives of others.
Jehovah-jireh, God who Provides, in the lean times, when generosity seems less logical, keep me giving, caring, and providing refreshment to those you send across my path, from children to strangers. Forbid stinginess from ever finding a home in my heart. - Mike Leamon
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