Category: Humility

8/16/2024 1 Comment

Valor II

The word valor originates from the Late Latin valorem and means strength or moral worth.[1] In the sense of strength, we think of one’s mind or spirit that enables them to take on danger or engage in acts of bravery and courage. In the sense of moral worth, valor is displayed by an unshakeable commitment to right conduct and virtue. A person who honorably refuses to engage in wrongdoing despite the pressure to do so displays valor.

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11/30/2023 0 Comments

Taking Blows

Fragile. Thin-skinned. Does it increasingly seem that we live in an age when many Christians cannot take criticism or rebuke of any sort without getting defensive and angry? Try confronting a believer over sin and see how that goes. Observe someone’s attitude or comment on questionable conduct, and be prepared to be attacked or shunned. Myles Munroe wrote in Waiting and Dating, “Being open to correction means making ourselves vulnerable, and many people are not willing to do that.”

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10/20/2023 0 Comments

When It Isn't Easy to Please

Have you ever run across someone who gets under your skin? In other words, whether it is their tone, comments, or behavior, something about them is irritating, and that irascibility is continuous and annoying. I met such a person playing pickleball. In this case, an older man seems to feel that he needs to tutor everyone else on the court even though his skills are inferior. He makes snarky comments, and I don’t like it. It gets to the point where when he signs up to play, others stay away because they don’t enjoy playing with him. Unfortunately, he does not seem to take hints or suggestions. He is fixed in his mannerisms and perhaps does not care what others think. So, I have to admit I was not thrilled when I read Romans 15:1,2 this morning.

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8/23/2023 0 Comments

Ability

Susana got up in front of everyone at the funeral and shared that she was sure she would be in heaven because she was a good person. Her expression is a classic belief held by countless people that because of their capacity for good, God cannot but let them into His place of dwelling.

Joe struggles with life. He feels he is not very good at anything and questions his value to God even though he has a strong relationship with Jesus. Because his abilities are limited, his self-esteem is relatively low. He weakly understands how valuable he is in God’s sight.

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7/16/2023 1 Comment

Phronesis

Adriano made a mistake. The Uruguayan was given $500 in pesos from his uncle to help pay for his tuition. Instead of paying the University of Montevideo, he loaned it to a friend who claimed his mother was sick and unable to pay her hospital bills. Later, Adriano found out he had lied to him and used the money to gamble. When the school bill was due, the friend couldn’t pay him back, so he had to explain to his uncle why he dropped a class.

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6/19/2023 0 Comments

Using Discernment

Ann faced a challenging situation in her new supervisory role with a nonprofit company that recently hired her. One of the employees, Calista, who worked on a different team, was giving her a tough time. Calista had applied for the job Ann now held and resented that she was not chosen. She used Ann’s inexperience to belittle her on calls (shared by others in the organization) and was rude when speaking to her. Ann realized she needed Calista’s help, but she first had to figure out a way to win her over, and that did not seem easy. So she asked for prayer from her close friends and asked God for His assistance.

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1/14/2023 8 Comments

Navigating the Christian Life

Author Geoff Davis

Over forty years ago, on April 1, 1982, I pinned on a US Army Ranger Tab. When I began that program on February 2, 1982, I started with some of the Army’s best soldiers. God used it as one of the most formative lessons in my walk with Him, so that I might know Him better.

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10/17/2022 0 Comments

Just a Youth

In 336 B.C., Alexander III of Macedon succeeded his father, Philip II, in becoming king of Greece at the age of twenty.[1] Alexander was not content to rule Greece. By age thirty, he had conquered so many nations that his rule extended from Greece to northwestern India. Alexander was undefeated in battle and is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history. No wonder he was called Alexander the Great. But did you know that Alexander was tutored until the age of 16 by the Greek philosopher Aristotle?

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2/13/2022 0 Comments

Explain This

Meditation
Proverbs 30:2-3--I am more stupid than any other man, and I lack man’s ability to understand. I have not gained wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.

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12/31/2021 0 Comments

Finding Stasis

Meditation
Daniel 5:26-28--This is the interpretation of the message: MENE means that God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end. TEKEL means that you have been weighed in the balance and found deficient.PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

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11/24/2021 0 Comments

Roles

Ralph went to the National Training Center (NTC) in California serving as the Fire Support Officer (FSO) for an infantry battalion scheduled to be evaluated. Ralph looked at the terrain model as the battalion staff discussed what tactics they should choose on their upcoming day of battle. He realized that it was very similar to terrain he had trained on with a Cavalry unit. As the leaders selected their preferred course of action he disagreed and felt they were heading into a trap. The battalion commander (BC) asked him to share his ideas. So Ralph passionately laid out a battle strategy that he was sure would defeat the opposition. His senior leaders agreed with him and the next day they won their battle decisively.

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12/26/2020 1 Comment

Preserving Unity

Meditation
Acts 4:32—Now the large group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but instead they held everything in common.

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9/30/2020 0 Comments

The Return

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, “It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.” On April 30, 1863, Lincoln's National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer was observed. Two days later, Lt. General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson was mortally wounded in a freak accident where he was shot by his own troops. The loss of this powerful Confederate leader changed the course of the war.[1]

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4/16/2020 1 Comment

How Will You Finish?

“The older man continued. ‘It has been my observation that just one out of ten who start out in full-time service for the Lord at twenty-one are still on track by the age of sixty-five’ . . . What makes you think that you will be the one man out of ten who finishes strong?”[1]

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4/7/2020 0 Comments

By What Authority?

In the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, He first made His authority clear to a young, unbroken donkey which He triumphantly rode into Jerusalem. His ride stirred a quick-gathering crowd that placed their robes on the road and spread leafy branches in front of the One they hoped would be their King. Matthew wrote, “The whole city was shaken, saying, “Who is this?” (Mathew 21:10).

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12/1/2018 0 Comments

Apology Accepted

Mary was in the process of leaving physical therapy in her car in a parking lot. She looked to her right and saw nothing but didn’t look to her left. As she began to pull out the oncoming driver laid on the horn letting Mary know her displeasure. Mary quickly realized her mistake and put up her arms to acknowledge her error and rolling down her window told the other driver, “I’m sorry.”

Later as Mary was pulling into a fast-food restaurant she noticed the woman she had almost cut off was in line in front of her. When it came time for Mary to drive up to the window and pay for her food the attendant said the woman in front had paid for her meal!

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1/17/2018 0 Comments

Self-Awareness

A close friend of mine, Sam Titus, sent me a book to read. It was entitled Insightand it was written by Dr. Tasha Eurich. Tasha did a wonderful job exploring the topic of self-awareness and illustrating why it is so important. Tasha defines self-awareness as “the ability to see ourselves clearly—to understand who we are, how others see us, and how we fit into the world around us.” I was pleased to see that she recognized in her research with people that “humility is a key ingredient of self-awareness.” She also noted as an organizational psychologist that self-aware people enjoy more successful careers and better lives because they have developed “an intuitive understanding of what matters to them, what they want to accomplish, how they behave, and how others see them.”[1]

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12/26/2017

Feeding Trough

Clare of Assisi lived from A.D. 1194-1253. Born the eldest daughter of Favorino Sciffi the wealthy Count of Sasso-Rosso, and his wife Ortolana, in the city of Assisi, she became a follower of Christ through the influence of Francis of Assisi and the Church of the Portiuncula in 1211.[1] As a young woman, over the objections of her father, but in accordance with Francis, she joined the convent of the Benedictine nuns of San Paulo, near Bastia.

12/17/2015 0 Comments

Vladimir--The Atrocious Leader

General Vladimir Sukhomlinov was the Russian Minister of War from 1909-1915. He was a cavalry officer and a war hero during Russia’s war with Turkey in the 1870s. Unfortunately, Sukhomlinov decided that he knew everything that there was to know about warfare. His decorations, record and position bolstered his self-importance despite the fact that Russia lost territory and huge numbers of dead and wounded to the Japanese from 1904-1905.

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4/5/2013 0 Comments

Help Me Understand . . .

Meditation
Job 6:24—Teach me, and I will be silent. Help me understand what I did wrong.

As the manager of a midsize division, Lu was responsible for millions of dollars of merchandise and about a hundred employees. The CEO was impressed by her tenacity and creative mind in fixing problems. The board saw her as a rising star so almost everyone was shocked when she resigned. She gave her new boss Calvin virtually no advance notice of her intentions and left at a time of major restructuring. Lu had accepted the offer of a smaller division within the same company but located in another state. She felt the job, though less prestigious, was a better fit for her skill set and it was much closer to her family.

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