Lately, I have been learning about humility and sacrifice.
To be humble is more than just relinquishing power and fulfilling the requests of another individual. Humility is asking to honestly see life from a perspective different than yours. Humility doesn't ask "What can I do?" but rather "What does God require of me?" A humble person is one who goes the extra mile for a neighbor; not because he/she has to or it is the right thing to do but because its a lifestyle. Humility does the ridiculous for a friend, a stranger, an enemy.
A person who expresses humility looks in the eyes of a person and sees Jesus. Lord, I want to see your reflection not in the pond as a wrinkled and temporary shadow, but as a real person with flesh and blood, breath and desire staring back at me. May the mirror be a mosaic of you and your people. Teach me how to walk barefoot with humility everyday. Show me your blisters so that I may begin to understand how to truly love. Let me experience your blisters. Show me what it is like to "love until it hurts." Teach me how to live with less and show me that it is more than I need.
Humility begets sacrifice. Sacrifice does not merely give people things; sacrifice literally gives up the needs of ourselves for someone else.
An example of sacrifice that I am constantly reminded of is that of Abraham and Issac. Here is the true story of a father, Abraham, who responds to God's call to sacrifice his son, Issac. Yet, right when Abraham is standing over his son, he hears the voice of the Lord beckoning him to stop. God not only saw his humility and sacrifice but recognized that his heart was aligned with God's. This test drew Abraham and God closer together, allowed Abraham to see the soverignity of God's rule, and let Abraham put the needs of his son first.
Truthfully, I don't know if I could sacrifice my only child. However, I think that sacrifice comes in ways that we may not expect. In his book, The Challenge of Jesus, N.T. Wright describes the "kingdom of God." Historical research shows that the Jews were not expecting the kingdom of God nor the return from their exile to manifest in the way that it did. Sometimes our view of humility and sacrifice may be quite different than what god had in mind.
Give me the ability to surrender my daily life to you, so that your will is fully exposed as raw and true, loving and beautiful.
