Humility, Contentment, and Thanksgiving

 

In 2 Corinthians 6:20 Paul says, “For you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body.”

 

How can we do that? I think we do that as followers of Jesus by allowing the Holy Spirit to produce godly character in our lives. Godly character is the reality of Jesus being manifested in and through our lives.

 

Romans 8:29 says that God is conforming those of us who God foreknew and predestined to the image of His Son.

 

2 Corinthians 3:18 says we are being transformed into Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

 

So, I want to mention the characteristics of Jesus that the Holy Spirit is producing in our lives as followers of Jesus.

 

Luke 18:14

Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

 

In James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5 we are told that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

 

Humility is placing ourselves in the proper position:

Recognizing God’s superiority

Under God’s authority

Not superior to others

Willing to serve God and others

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing the Holy Spirit to manifest the humility of Jesus in and through our lives so, when we proclaim the gospel, our lives back up the truth of what we are sharing.

 

1 Timothy 6:6 says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.

 

2 Corinthians 3:5

Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God.  

 

Contentment means that we find Jesus sufficient for everything in our lives: our earthly lives and our eternal lives.

 

It does not mean that we don’t want to grow in our relationship with Jesus or allow God to use us more. It means that I look to Jesus for all I need and trust Him to provide it.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is looking to and trusting Jesus for all that I need physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

 

Psalm 100:4-5 says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

 

Thankfulness to God is a recognition that God in His grace, goodness, and faithfulness has provided for us and cared for us, both physically and spiritually. It is recognition that we are totally dependent upon Him and that all we are and have comes from God.

 

Thankfulness acknowledges God’s goodness and exalts the person of God.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging our dependence on God and praising Him for who He is and thanking Him for what He has done.

 

In humility we acknowledge God’s majesty, in contentment we acknowledge God’s grace, and in thankfulness we acknowledge God’s goodness.

 

When we allow the Holy Spirit to produce these characteristics in and through our lives, it testifies to the truth of Jesus.

 

Being Made to Look Like Jesus and Raising the Roof

and Removing the Walls,

Joe