Humble Yourself

If you have been trapped by what you said or ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, to free yourself.  GO and HUMBLE YOURSELF to your neighbor and APOLOGIZE.  Allow no sleep to your eyes.  Free yourself like a bird from the snare of the fowler”  (Proverbs 6:3-4).  This advice from the Scripture is as relevant today as it was 3000 years ago!  How different our lives would often be if we simply followed this maxim.  Notice the urgency.  Allow no sleep!  Don’t wait!  Notice the condition.  Humble yourself!  Get off your high horse!  Notice the result.  This sets me free!  I have changed my future!  Notice the relationship.  New terms with my neighbor!  Second chance with my coworker or friend or family!  New beginning with GOD!  A simple, sincere apology.

 

In football training, the offensive linemen are often reminded, “GET LOW!”  No matter how many pounds of flesh are attempting to charge over top of them, they have a better chance of stopping it by keeping their center of gravity down low.  What great advice for living a successful life, for having happy relationships, and for pleasing God.  “GET LOW!”  “STAY LOW!”  Be humble.  Say “I’m sorry”.  When you realize that your words or actions have offended or hurt someone, come down from your exalted position, your high and mighty attitude, and ask for forgiveness.  GET LOW.  This is actually the very path on which we must walk to even have a relationship with God.  To confess our sins, to repent or forsake our sins, to ask God to save us or help us is simply a matter of humbling ourself.  He is willing to forgive, but we must request.  He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).  If you wish to be free from the power and penalty of your sins, this is truly the only way to begin.  Humble yourself before God.  The precise words aren’t crucial, because God hears the heart and knows the motive and the measure of your humility.  When it is genuine, he will know.  And he will answer your prayer!

 

I read about a professional con man named William.  He would prey on people financially, smooth talking them into schemes from which he emerged with their money.  After meeting a man in a hotel bar and plying him with drinks, he took money from him and left.  Later he ran into this man who had simply fallen to pieces emotionally, crying and lying on the floor.  Something snapped within William.  In that moment he saw clearly the damage he had caused many lives.  He had been proud of his ability to con people without caring how it affected them.  Like a bolt out of the blue, he saw that he was a jerk and what he did was evil.  In that moment he made a life changing decision.  He GOT LOW.  He got the cash from his room, returned it to the mark, apologized, and asked the fellow to forgive him.  He said, “When I left him, I felt like I was walking on air.  I was free!”  Later, reflecting on this moral change of direction, he said, “What am I good at?  I am good at sleight of hands and smooth talk.”  He decided to become a magician, using his talents as a way of entertaining people rather than hurting people.  He became very successful at that trade!  Whether William realized it or not, he was doing what the Scriptures tell us we must do if we would have God’s blessing upon our lives.  Who deserves an apology from you today?

 

David Rawley, Pastor
Otterbein United Brethren in Christ Church