Monday, December 04, 2006
Humility
Ok...i will say right off...this isnt anything i encountered in my MUG time(which btw...does that have any special meaning?)...i had a basketball game tonight...we got soundly beaten...but thats a whole nother story(meaning we didnt play very well and i dont want to talk about...haha...)...but...coming out of the loss i realized that i dont have as much humility as i thought i did...i mean im not bitter or anything that we lost...but during the game...i didnt make the greatest choice...which didnt reflect my relationship with Christ very well...partially becuase i was caught up in the game and kinda upset...but for instance i fouled a guy after he took the ball from me and the ref said something to me...and i just realized that if something like that happens to me...i usually dont take it in the best way and become proud...so...basically...all i am asking is how are some ways i can become more humble?(easy enough question right? haha...)
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4 comments:
MUG is a term our youth life group came up with in place of "quiet time" which we felt sounded to wimpy. MUG stands for mystical union with God. Since that is what we shooting for in our quiet times, we came up with MUG.
So, you learned something about yourself. Basically, you are the type of person who gets angry when things don't go your way. Not exactly like Jesus would have done if he were living your life. When we was hanging on the cross, he was not angry, so he probably would not have been angry if someone stole the ball from him. He lived his life in the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus addressed the issue of anger and contempt in the sermon on the mount where he was teaching pretty directly about what life in the kingdom was all about.
That is what discipleship is supposed to be all about. How can you change from being a person who gets angry when things don't go your way to being a person who easily and routinely does what Jesus would do if he were living your life? It is about transformation, aka spiritual formation.
In case you don't know the process, let me summarize. You let the Word, the Holy Spirit, and grace interact with your intentional efforts to learn to be like Jesus. These intentional efforts will almost certainly require regular practice of the spiritual disciplines.
Can you think of some spiritual disciplines that would be good practice in not getting your way while you control your anger?
usually people can make me angry. and i looked at a few scriptures relating to this and it seems that we have to keep a focus on others rather than ourself. by considering others first we somehow loose our desire to be right, or accuse another person. that's just my two cents. serving others could be a good discipline. others as in like everyone, even those who are already close to you, not just those who you don't really know.
I agree, Loren. Service is a good spiritual discipline to practice that could help with us not having to have our own way all the time.
Aaron, I have to give God credit for being gracious to you. Your heart is in the place where you even notice this. I think that is the starting point. A good discipline for allowing God to do his gracious work in our hearts is prayer of examen. God can use that time to show you your heart.
If you are aware of this tendency in you, then God can use this awareness to show you another way.
How about before the next game you spend a few minutes and drop into the heart and tell God that you intend to give up thinking every things has to go your way this game. Dedicate the game and your actions to him. Ask for his help in responding differently. Intentionally make an effort to be gracious to your teammates and competitors.
After the game, do another prayer of examen and let God show you even more about your heart from the game.
Do prayer of examen during the week and ask God to show you other areas of your life where you feel you have to have your way that gets expressed in anger.
Maybe through this process, it would seem appropriate to confess and ask for forgiveness from someone.
So, service and prayer of examen are two spriritual disciplines you can use to put you in a position where God's grace can do its transforming work. You can also try some type of fast as practice.
Now you can also not do any of these and continue to live a life in the kingdom of self, but I don't think that is what God is calling you to. I see this who encounter as a calling of God to you. Listen and follow him!
I forgot to add confession and recompense as spiritual disciplines as well.
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