HUMILITY-DEMONSTRATED
Youth is the
time when all seems to be within the grasp of the careful student. I have left
that time behind. “I don’t know” is on my lips more often now. But so also is “God
knows!” – not as a thoughtless expression in
conversation, but as the conviction of my heart.
A Vision for Missions,
Permission by The Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle, PA.
p. 54-55.
And seldom if
ever do I leave the pulpit without a sense of partial failure, a mood of
penitence, a cry to God for forgiveness, and a resolve to look to Him for grace
to do better in the future.
John Stott
Can you serve
your boss and others at work, helping them to succeed and be happy, even when
they are promoted and you are overlooked? Can you work to make others look good
without envy filling your heart? Can you minister to the needs of those whom
God exalts and men honor when you yourself are neglected? Can you pray for the
ministry of others to prosper when it would cast yours in the shadows?
Donald Whitney
Spiritual Disciplines for the
Christian Life, 1991, p. 122, Used by permission of
NavPress – www.navpress.com. All
rights reserved. For more information
please see the website www.BibicalSpirituality.org.
When I was
young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand
times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before; at present, I am
hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me.
John Wesley
And I am
afraid there are Calvinists, who, while they account it a proof of their
humility that they are willing in words to debase the creature, and to give all
the glory of salvation to the Lord, yet know not what manner of spirit they are
of. Whatever it be that makes us trust in ourselves that we are comparatively
wise or good, so as to treat those with contempt who do not subscribe to our
doctrines, or follow our party, is a proof and fruit of a self-righteous
spirit. Self-righteousness can feed upon doctrines, as well as upon works; and
a man may have the heart of a Pharisee, while his head is stored with orthodox
notions of the unworthiness of the creature and the riches of free grace.
John Newton
Do not desire
to be the principal man in the church. Be lowly. Be humble. The best man in the
church is the man who is willing to be a doormat for all to wipe their boots
on, the brother who does not mind what happens to him at all, so long as God is
glorified.
C.H. Spurgeon
Micah's Message for Today.
There are
many of us that are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are
willing to do little things.
D.L. Moody
As God then
sees all hearts, and knows every movement of pride, whether we see it or not,
His purpose is to humble us! When I look back upon my life, and see all my
sins, all my follies, all my slips, all my falls, my conscience testifies of
the many things I have thought, said, and done, which grieve my soul, make me
hang my head before God, put my mouth in the dust, and confess my sins unto Him.
When I contrast my own exceeding sinfulness with God's greatness, God's
majesty, God's holiness, and God's purity... I fall down, humbly and meekly before
Him, I put my mouth in the dust, I acknowledge I am vile. “I am nothing but
dust and ashes.” (Abraham) “Behold, I am vile!” (Job) “Woe to me! I am ruined!”
(Isaiah) “I am a sinful man!” (Peter)
J.C. Philpot
Wilderness Hunger and Heavenly Manna.
When the corn
is nearly ripe it bows the head and stoops lower than when it was green. When
the people of God are near ripe for heaven, they grow more humble and
self-denying… Paul had one foot in heaven when he called himself the chiefest of sinners and least of saints.
John Flavel
A Puritan
Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by
permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 147.
I can only
assume that God looked down from heaven to find the smallest and most
insignificant creature and seeing me, He took me up and used me.
Thomas a Kempis
A wretched,
poor and helpless worm, on Thy kind arms I fall.
William Carey
The epitaph “the father of modern missions”
requested for his gravestone.
Mary’s act of
pouring it on Christ’s feet was an act of utter humility. It was an extreme act
of worship from an undivided heart. Holding nothing back, as if pouring forth
her very soul, Mary poured it all out, an entire pint of it. She said nothing. No
words would have sufficed to express her feelings.
Cheryl Ford
Treasures from the Heart, Crossway Books,
2000, p. 146.