Thursday, January 16, 2020
The Rewards of Humility
“I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14 nlt)
The great evangelist Dwight L. Moody said, “I have had more trouble with D. L. Moody than with any other man who has crossed my path. If I can keep him right, I don’t have any trouble with other people.”
We love to blame things on other people when, in reality, the problem lies with us. We can point fingers and complain about this person doing that thing and that person doing another thing. But the truth is that our own hearts aren’t right.
It’s no different than Adam and Eve shifting blame in the Garden of Eden. Adam said, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” Then Eve said, “The serpent deceived me. . . . That’s why I ate it” (Genesis 3:12–13 nlt).
All too often we blame other people or our circumstances rather than admit that we’re responsible for what we do.
Jesus told a parable about two men who went into the temple to pray. One was a sinner, and the other was a Pharisee. The sinner would not even lift his eyes to Heaven. Instead, he said, “O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner” (Luke 18:13 nlt). This guy was bad, and he knew it.
Meanwhile, the Bible says, “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican” (verse 11 kjv).
Jesus said, “I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (verse 14 nlt).
The one who admitted his sin, the one who owned it, is the one who went home justified before God.
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