Matthew 23 11-12
A Warning against hypocrisy.
Jesus himself is a walking example of what it means to be humble, to be merciful, to be forgiving, to be loving. Our God himself humbled himself and came to earth fully God and fully man to save us from death, to be the ultimate sacrifice for humanity. Jesus is the blueprint to eternal life. Jesus came to earth for our Salvation, he came to serve, and to not be served. What example did Jesus show us? One of the main examples he shows us through his actions is when he washed his disciples feet, Peter turned around and said, no way Jesus you will not wash my feet. But Jesus said if you don’t let me do this then you have no part of me. Jesus humbled himself and washed his disciples feet to give us a example on how to love one another and to show us that no one person is better than the other. The main message Jesus try’s to spread is a message against hypocrisy and exaltation of one’s self. It’s very easy now days to get ahead of ourselves due to a statues type run world, theirs so many avenues to sin now days, it’s easy to look at ourselves and look at others and think we are better than those around us, due to what we do, say and act, We can easily get caught up in that self righteousness mode and forget that we were once broken and that only through the grace of God is what saved us and gave us life. Jesus uses another example of when the Pharisee and tax collector both went to the temple to pray, the Pharisee thanked God for not being like everyone else but the tax collector sat their and beat his chest declaring that he is a sinner and is unworthy, the tax collector walked off more satisfied than the Pharisee, this is another example of God rewarding the humble rather than the self righteous. How do we remain humble and not get to ahead of ourselves? If we make sure we do everything through the grace of God and give the Glory to him in everything we do we can make sure in that way we stay grounded. To meditate and keep Gods word at the forefront of our minds, to always remember the examples Jesus set for us in his actions on how to treat each other, to love, to show mercy, to forgive. We have all rebelled against God in our own way, which makes us all equal in Gods eyes. It’s important we must remember that Grace is a free gift from God therefore our Salvation and Good works are from God, God made it this way so we can’t boast in our own name but in his name instead, so we may glorify him and not ourselves. We can’t work our way to heaven so why act like we can? It’s easier to live in Gods grace, and accept what is. We don’t know what today or tomorrow brings so If it’s good times great. If it’s bad times then even better, everything is from God, so that makes it good. When we are living self righteously we struggle to get through times of struggle because we can forget that this world is a cursed world and not everyday is going to be great. When we are rebuked from God or when things don’t go our way, we tend to question God and say why me? I’m this I’m that, I’m doing this and doing that? Why me? Rather than accepting what is and moving on,into the direction God wants us to go. If we humble ourselves God will raise us up through his strength, then life will be much easier, still hard, but accepting and leaning on Gods strength is much easier than questioning.
For it is Written: The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted
A Warning against hypocrisy.
Jesus himself is a walking example of what it means to be humble, to be merciful, to be forgiving, to be loving. Our God himself humbled himself and came to earth fully God and fully man to save us from death, to be the ultimate sacrifice for humanity. Jesus is the blueprint to eternal life. Jesus came to earth for our Salvation, he came to serve, and to not be served. What example did Jesus show us? One of the main examples he shows us through his actions is when he washed his disciples feet, Peter turned around and said, no way Jesus you will not wash my feet. But Jesus said if you don’t let me do this then you have no part of me. Jesus humbled himself and washed his disciples feet to give us a example on how to love one another and to show us that no one person is better than the other. The main message Jesus try’s to spread is a message against hypocrisy and exaltation of one’s self. It’s very easy now days to get ahead of ourselves due to a statues type run world, theirs so many avenues to sin now days, it’s easy to look at ourselves and look at others and think we are better than those around us, due to what we do, say and act, We can easily get caught up in that self righteousness mode and forget that we were once broken and that only through the grace of God is what saved us and gave us life. Jesus uses another example of when the Pharisee and tax collector both went to the temple to pray, the Pharisee thanked God for not being like everyone else but the tax collector sat their and beat his chest declaring that he is a sinner and is unworthy, the tax collector walked off more satisfied than the Pharisee, this is another example of God rewarding the humble rather than the self righteous. How do we remain humble and not get to ahead of ourselves? If we make sure we do everything through the grace of God and give the Glory to him in everything we do we can make sure in that way we stay grounded. To meditate and keep Gods word at the forefront of our minds, to always remember the examples Jesus set for us in his actions on how to treat each other, to love, to show mercy, to forgive. We have all rebelled against God in our own way, which makes us all equal in Gods eyes. It’s important we must remember that Grace is a free gift from God therefore our Salvation and Good works are from God, God made it this way so we can’t boast in our own name but in his name instead, so we may glorify him and not ourselves. We can’t work our way to heaven so why act like we can? It’s easier to live in Gods grace, and accept what is. We don’t know what today or tomorrow brings so If it’s good times great. If it’s bad times then even better, everything is from God, so that makes it good. When we are living self righteously we struggle to get through times of struggle because we can forget that this world is a cursed world and not everyday is going to be great. When we are rebuked from God or when things don’t go our way, we tend to question God and say why me? I’m this I’m that, I’m doing this and doing that? Why me? Rather than accepting what is and moving on,into the direction God wants us to go. If we humble ourselves God will raise us up through his strength, then life will be much easier, still hard, but accepting and leaning on Gods strength is much easier than questioning.
For it is Written: The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted
