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the humility that brings us rest is the same humility that frees us to be the people God created us to be.
When we believe that we are responsible for our own existence, when we trust our ability to care for ourselves, we will have nothing but stress because we are unequal to the task.
He frees us by calling us to rely less on ourselves and more on Him. He frees us by calling us to humility.
Unlike many of the religious leaders who sought power and personal glory, Jesus comes to bring us freedom and rest.
If anything, those of us who are busy “working for Jesus” may be the first to miss that we are struggling with pride because it can hide behind our good intentions. We can also miss it because we exist in contexts that excuse and, at times, actually encourage such self-reliance.
Pride convinces us that we are stronger and more capable than we actually are. Pride convinces us that we must do and be more than we are able.
When Jesus calls us to take His yoke, when He invites us to find rest through submission, He is not satisfying some warped need for power or His own sense of pride. He is calling us to safety. The safety that comes from belonging to Him. The safety that comes from being tamed.
It is understandable that we fear the yoke. We fear the loss of control. We fear surrender. But we must also understand that without the protection of a good master, we are not safe. From the manipulation of other masters. From the expectations of society. From ourselves.
our words and actions gradually reveal our character and our essential nature.
As long as we refuse to accept that our pride is the source of our unrest, we will continue to wither on the vine.
Humility is accurately understanding ourselves and our place in the world. Humility is knowing where we came from and who our people are. Humility is understanding that without God we are nothing. Without His care, without His provision, without His love, we would still be dust.
We can no longer simply be content to attempt to imitate Him; we must become part of Him in order to reflect Him.
We do not hate our bodies for what they are; we hate them for what they are not. We hate them for not being godlike. We hate them for being imperfect. We hate them for being limited.
Theologically speaking, humility is a proper understanding of who God is and who we are as a result.
we do not resolve our emotional uncertainty—our stress and anxiety—by focusing on our emotions themselves. We resolve our uncertainty by getting to the root cause. We resolve it by learning from Jesus, who is meek and lowly of heart.
Becoming wise people, becoming people who can make good decisions only comes when we understand who God is and who we are as a result.
Wisdom is not the result of formal education or religious practice; wisdom is the result of humility.
We fail to recognize how much we already enjoy because we assume we deserve it or because we’ve earned it.
the redemption of a proud people could only come by a great humbling.
