“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” -Saint Augustine
I think we genuinely need more people in all spheres of society but definitely in the Church, who will stand up and say that one of the hallmarks of their life is that they are lowly in their thinking of themselves. The axis of their worldview is that they recognise the value of others above their own value. They are humble.
A consecrated heart is a humble one.
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4 v 7-10)
So we are getting into practicalities. There are things we can do that takes us into humility and it is that process that becomes a journey of consecration.
James gives us a helpful list:
- Submit and to do so voluntarily. To say, ‘Your will be done in my life.’ It is the idea of a soldier awaiting commands from his superiors. ‘Lord whatever you want for my life you can have, I lay down my own desires.’ It is to say, ‘I lay down who I am and what I am to do your will. I submit to you.’
- Resist the devil. To resist the promptings of the god of this world that tell us to stand up for ourselves. It is only to those who have submitted to God are they then commanded to resist the devil. When we submit to God we become objects for the devil’s attention. He will do anything he can to water down our commitment, to pull us away. His darkness will even try and impersonate the light to fool us. He hates your desire for consecration. Resist and he will flee.
- Come near to God. Something that didn’t get said in past generations and still today with the world religions. But because of Christ the promise is that He will draw near to us. Surely this coming near means prayer and worship.
- Wash and purify. Figuratively speaking of repentance which enables us to turn away from commitments and loyalties other than that of God. Living like this James says makes us double-minded, our focus is divided.
- Grieve, mourn and wail. James is saying don’t be self-centred, wrapped up in your own desires for an easy life, don’t be complacent but be aware of your sin before God for only then can you reach out for grace. James wants us to exchange our laughter and joy with mourning and gloom. Let us not dismiss everything of the past. Their prophets of old lived their lives speaking these words as they looked at the sin of their nation and the people of God. Our generation also needs to draw from our ancestors their approach to life especially sin.
James closes this section with a quote which has to be based on the words of Jesus who encouraged us all into a life of humility, ‘for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.’
In closing I have tried to live by 4 principles:
- Selfish exaltation leads to public humiliation.
- Open demonstrations of humility lead to public exaltation.
- How you treat people and how you view yourself has eternal consequence.
- Think less of me, see less of me, speak less of me.
Missions Paul 