Tag: humility/pride

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Bridle Your Tongue and Love Like Me

James 1:19 (VOICE) Listen, open your ears, harness your desire to speak, and don’t get worked up into a rage so easily, my brothers and sisters.

Beloved, be intentional to bridle your tongue. Resist the urge to vent your frustrations and instead cultivate peace so the frustration won’t come as easily. Like a muscle that can be trained and strengthened, you can increase your ability to hold onto your inner peace. Press into My Spirit. Allow Me to bring you shalom – the peace that wars against chaos – in every circumstance.  What you feed will grow. Will you feed the frustration or feed the peace?

Listen, beloved. Hear beyond people’s hurts and pride. Hear what is underneath them. Listen with My ears and hear with My heart. See the wounds and brokenness that cause the behavior. Be moved with compassion. Pray for them. Demonstrate My love instead of reacting to offense. Choose to love like Me, and walk in peace and unshakable joy. Continue reading “Bridle Your Tongue and Love Like Me”

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Be My Love with Skin On

Note: in scripture, things were often repeated for emphasis in the same way we bold or italicize things now. So when God chooses to repeat something, He’s saying, “This is important.” With that said, I smiled when He launched into a second day on this scripture. 🙂

Galatians 5:22 (AMP) But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is…patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting]…

Beloved, it is never worth wounding someone’s heart over your schedule, your “rights”, or your pride. No matter how pressed for time you may feel, the people I place around you are there by design. They are opportunities to be My love. The frazzled checkout clerk who has been swamped all day may desperately need your smile rather than yet another frustrated customer who is short with them.

You may never know what’s going on behind the scenes. You may never know what fruit your actions bring, but I do. I see when your moment of kindness tilts the balance in that person’s life so they choose life for one more day rather than giving up. You may not know the full impact your actions have, but that doesn’t mean your actions aren’t having impact.

So choose to kill your flesh. Cultivate patience. Respond in love even when the world would say you have a “right” to be affronted. Be My love with skin on. Bear fruit and bear it abundantly.

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A Hearing Heart of Wisdom and Humility

1 Kings 3:9 (JUB) Give, therefore, thy slave a hearing heart to judge thy people that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this thy so great a people?

Beloved, like Solomon, desire wisdom. Wisdom to know Me more and to better understand My will and My ways. Wisdom to have a hearing heart – one that knows well My voice. Wisdom to see the ploys of the enemy and be able to thwart them and (when asked) counsel others on how to do the same. Beloved, wisdom is a precious jewel, more valuable than silver and gold, seek it – seek Me.

With wisdom must come humility. Remember the Source of your wisdom and it will be easier to resist the temptation to get puffed up. In humility and wisdom, walk in My ways and share My truths. Be light and salt, by your very life challenging those around you to reject compromise and seek Me with their whole hearts. So ask Me for wisdom, beloved. It will not be denied.

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Bring Hope

John 3:17 (TLB) God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.

Beloved, too often My children rejoice in judgment; self-congratulating as they take note the areas they have “right” and highlighting the struggles and sins of others. That does not reflect My heart. I cannot rejoice at progress made in My child’s life if it’s intentionally contrasted to the downfalls of another. I want that not one might be lost.

Find ways to rejoice in your victories without comparison, for comparison isn’t how I measure. This is a good thing for all have sinned and fallen short but One.

So be intentional to bring hope. Say “because I have done this you can too!” Offer encouragement, prayer, and gentle counsel when it is sought. Love like Me. Be known for the love you exude. Shower those around you with hope. Believe the best. See the best. Encourage. Reflect My heart.

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Nurture Your Inner Man

Proverbs 31:30 (AMPC) Charm and grace are deceptive, and beauty is vain [because it is not lasting], but a woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord, she shall be praised!

Beloved, do not be sucked in by vanity, ever chasing fickle trends and the approval of man. Allow the radiance of your countenance to shine, and the soft glow of My presence resting on you to bring forth beauty.

May your heart’s focus be on Me, not on the cares of this world – though yes, it is right to take care of your outer body and belongings, that should not take precedent over nurturing your inner man in relationship with Me.

So worship Me without reserve. Gaze on My face with reverential awe. Listen keenly for My voice. Rejoice in the wonder of My presence. Be made whole. Be made beautiful.

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Be Naked and Unashamed 

James 5:16a (AMP) Therefore, confess your sins to one another [your false steps, your offenses], and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored.

Beloved, do not let pride or shame or fear of judgement keep you from confessing your sins. The enemy desires to keep you in bondage to them, wrapping you tightly in feelings of guilt and shame because he knows your confession will usher in freedom for you and he wants to keep you from it. Don’t let him.

Be naked and unashamed, willing to be transparent and vulnerable with your siblings in Christ. Trust that I will protect your heart, and trust that I will move in theirs as they respond to you and pray for you. Allow the fullness of your healing to come. Be restored and fully transformed. Be free.

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Love Like Me

Galatians 5:22-23 (AMP) But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others]…

Beloved, to be like Me you must walk in love; thinking of others’ needs above your own and considering their interests and feelings. Bear with them in love. Take the high road, walking in humility even in moments when your flesh is screaming. Love.

I’m not asking you to let others use or abuse you; there are moments to stand fast, but there are moments to yield even when your flesh cries to be defensive or offended, but instead you walk like Me: in love. In understanding. In humility. I AM with you. I will strengthen you. Be known for your love.

Ephesians 4:2 (VOICE) Be humble. Be gentle. Be patient. Tolerate one another in an atmosphere thick with love.

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Seek Peace and Harmony

1 Corinthians 1:10 (TLB) But, dear brothers, I beg you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so that there won’t be splits in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.

Beloved, seek peace and harmony among the brethren. As you consider others above yourself and extend grace and mercy – seeking to understand, assuming positive intent, and covering your brothers and sisters in Christ in prayer – you will find it easy to operate with My heart and in My love. Pray first, speak second – if at all. Trust My Holy Spirit to do the work in each other’s hearts. Each of you is responsible for your own personal growth and My Holy Spirit will show you what areas to work on next – just as you trust Me to do that in you, trust that I will do the same in others.

Resist the urge to be prideful if I’ve already addressed and area with you and you’re walking in victory in it, but your brother is not. Extend the grace you wanted to receive, use your strengths to cover one another’s weaknesses. Truly function as a body. Walking in love and tenderly caring for each other, compensating when one area is weakened or hurt, allowing time for strength and maturity to be built. Love one another and bear with one another in love.

Lead by example. Even if others walk in pride and point out your weaknesses – exploiting rather than covering – do not respond in kind, but rather walk in humility as My Son did – simply being Who I created Him to be and acting in a way that was pleasing to Me rather than retaliating or defending Himself. Trust Me to cover you when your brethren let you down, but don’t stop walking in the manner I have called you to because even if no one else sees it, I do.

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Release Your Sound

Romans 8:26 (AMPC) So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.

Make a sound, beloved. Let it come forth from inside you – whether it be a bursting shout, a mighty roar, or a groan too deep for words. Pour it forth – whether an offering of praise or a tool of intercession – release what is stirring in your belly, for I have placed it there. Let your sound echo through the heavenlies – breaking strongholds, declaring victory, and ascribing praise.

Do not hold back. Do not let the enemy steal your voice. Do not let concerns of what man may think hinder you from doing, being, and birthing that which you are called to. Break forth! Shout in victory! Let your sound declare it to be so! And so the thing shall be established. Release it! Mighty is your sound.

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Take Action: LOVE

1 John 4:20-21 (VOICE) If someone claims, “I love God,” but hates his brother or sister, then he is a liar. Anyone who does not love a brother or sister, whom he has seen, cannot possibly love God, whom he has never seen. He gave us a clear command, that all who love God must also love their brothers and sisters.

Beloved, stay in a place of love. If you love Me, love like Me. I know it will not always be easy. I know it will hurt your pride and chafe your flesh, but it reflects Me and will build a beauty of character in you. Make a point to not respond when your flesh rises up. Pause. Step back and see with My eyes. Love where other may tell you that you need to take action… take action: LOVE.