LOVE IS NOT PROUD

Therefore love is humble.

This means that if we love God we will humble ourselves before Him. We will obey him, we will accept to hear what He says about us, we will bow before Him, we will not waste His time. This also means that if we love our neighbour, we must also humble ourselves before him.

Mathew 18:1-5, “Become as little children…..whosoever shall humble himself as this little child.”

If someone were to call me a child, “Hayley you child.” I wouldn’t be happy because I would imagine that they want to say I’m immature in my way of thinking and acting and that I’m not clever. But Jesus said we must live like children.

So lets think about children and what we can learn from them so that we can become humble before God and seen by Him as great in the kingdom of God.

A baby lives a life of purity and it does not sin. A baby never tells lies, it never abuses people and it will never tempt you to sin. When a child grows up it has forgotten what happened in the past. If you discipline your child, they will come back five minutes later and you will be good friends. They can forget easily. I remember one time I accused Zoe wrongly and when I realised I apologised and she forgave me without any battle. I think if an adult was accused in that same way, they would remember forever, “I remember Hayley…” But not children, they can easily forget and as Christians we must forgive and forget!!

Children always go to their parents for advice; how many times does God teach us as His children? Do we show the world what God teaches us? God taught us what is sin, obedience, respect, how to pray, how to live with others. Children are very good at learning, are we? Little babies cry when they need something and when you cry, God will assist you and answer all your needs.

If your husband is not saved, or your parents, or your friends, behave like a child so he/she will see the upbringing you have received from God. Many people, if they see a naughty child, they will blame the parents. Let us behave in a way so God our Father is glorified as a great parent. And when you forgive, forget also so that those around you will not doubt the faith you have.

Some children are disobedient to their parents. You can try to educate them but they are always naughty. It was the same with the Pharisees. God taught them but they never put it into practise. Us here in this group, we are not babies that God needs to watch over us every second, e.g. a two week old baby can’t be left alone to take a bath. But when the baby is two years old, it doesn’t need you to hold its head out of the water. It can even start to clean itself. We are not babies anymore, God doesn’t have to hold us up at every moment. When a child is two years old it can understand right from wrong. It knows more than a baby. It can even distinguish satan and the child does not want to please him because the child is afraid.

Some Christians have been saved for fifty years and so they consider themselves as spiritual adults. And with this they can look at others around them and see them as babies. But God said we must all humble ourselves and become like children. Everyone must become like a child and no one must think of himself as better than another. Many adults can see easily the faults of children and never see their own weaknesses. Many adults will never accept the advise of their children. There is a saying that goes, “The children beat the drum while the adults dance”. This means the adults are humble to accept to dance for their children. As Christians we must not look at others and think we know better or see only their faults. We must be humble to show them love and to live in a right way. Look at the pope, he is frail and old but he has power. You might think this one is a child and disregard what he is saying but he might have power from God.

Time on this earth is short and soon we will meet the God who created us and if we have not behaved as children what will we say to God? Submit yourself and become like a child so the power of God will be with you, because when you are in the Kingdom of God you will be lifted up. But if you lift yourself up here on earth to show others you are an adult for the Kingdom of God, you will be humiliated.

So are you ready to meet Jesus? Do you behave like a child in the kingdom of God? Do you behave according to the upbringing you have received? Are you like a Pharisee who knows the law but doesn’t put it into practise? Are you there just to show other’s mistakes and not worry about your own? Are you an adult where others are children?

Humble yourself, behave like children and God will lift you up.

This is love! Love means we will be humble in front of God and in front of others.

By Hayley Boud