For about a week, I wrote on the theme of loving your wife. In doing so, I felt good that I was able to come up with what I did, and somewhat unconsciously felt that I was doing a pretty good job of it. Now, there is nothing wrong with confidence; but here is the twist: Life sometimes throws you a curveball. You come across something that makes you struggle a bit with yourself, and that confidence in that thing you feel you did well, at least for me, can so easily turn to over-confidence and a little disregard. Disregard for God's call for me quickly became a bigger issue than that little curveball I experienced before.
Pride and overconfidence would say "I've been doing well. I'm good at this!" Humility would say "I've been doing well. I should keep this up." I find it a challenge to attain and maintain the latter attitude. But if you are anything like me, so do you. To go back and reflect on a previous passage, Paul writes "1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." (Ephesians 4:1-2) Completely humble, I think, also means that I can accept my failures and stay focused on the call God has for me. I think when God calls us to bear with one another in love, He also means ourselves. Why is it so much easier to forgive others, but so hard to forgive myself?
Lord, let me accept my failures, not so that I would not continue to care, but that I would be able to stay focused on your mission for me, and be an example of humility for others.
