2015's Wise Word

Welcome, 2015!  I have a good word for you ...

But first, a shout out to last year and Mercy.   2014's wise word theme/challenge/project for me was Mercy.  Sweet Mercy. And, man-oh-man, did I really mean it and go after it.  I made great gains in the Mercy department and it has felt good.  It has been freeing.  And it has meant a lot to me to hear Josh testify to having seen the change in me himself.  That's not to say I have it entirely mastered however.  I would like to know it in my life more naturally and with less concentrated effort. So I am gonna keep Mercy high on my heart's priority list in the coming year even though it is time to add another discipline.  The next wise word I am coming at really goes hand-in-hand with mercy.  It's one that, again, I sense the Lord calling me to stare down and choose and get real with .... and that is Humility.

Besides the book Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges that I just finished and will go through again, these are some scriptures that have and will continue to inform my steps toward humility:

And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  1 Peter 5:5

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Colossians 3:12

 He has shown you, O man, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.  Micah 6:8

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.  Romans 12:3

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. Proverbs 11:2

I picture my pursuit of humility fleshing itself out in any of the following ways and then some: Lifting others up. Talking about myself less.  Resisting the need to be heard. Using less words in general. Seeking out others' attention less.  Keeping a lower profile online. Minding my own business.  Not trying to influence other people's affairs. Accepting contradictions and correction cheerfully. Passing over the mistakes of others. Accepting insults and injuries. Accepting being slighted, forgotten, and disliked. Being kind and gentle even under provocation. Not pursuing the win in an argument. Letting go. Yielding. Viewing things through the lens of God's will and not my own. Choosing gentleness beyond what comes naturally to me right now. Quieting my thoughts. And relying on the strength of the Holy Spirit within me more than my own strength or will power. Worshipping, worshipping, worshipping the Lord in spirit and in truth!

So here's to 2015's spiritual wardrobe upgrade:  clothing myself in humility. ♥