What Does Walking Humbly Look Like?

This weekend, Peter was the guest speaker at a Labor Day Camp out retreat. His theme for the weekend was “Walk Humbly With Thy God.”

You know, you can’t walk humbly if you are filled with pride. And Peter graphed out areas of pride starting with things that are “highly visible to us and others” and moved to attitudes that are “invisible to others and ourselves.” (meaning we are blind to these things and culturally they may be acceptable–like “complaining” would have been natural to the children of Israel who were brought up in three generations of slavery; however, God did not let it slide or look the other way. He saw their complaining as idolatry.)

Peter mentioned that our idea of a proud person is mostly likely someone who acts like the fictitious character Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. Everybody knows it, or suspects it.

But in reality, we are usually proud in ways that nobody but God sees (heart problems)

and

in ways that we too easily excuse as “I was just born this way.”_________Fill in the blank: angry, lazy, stubborn, etc…

But just because they are hidden from other’s view, does not mean that God does not see. In fact, God always sees the heart and tries the hearts. He looks for the humble of heart and those who tremble at His word.

You can see his chart on the board here:

Our biggest “concentration” of sin comes from the bottom left hand corner of the chart–self dependence. These are not the “big, blow up” moments of failure, but the wrong daily attitudes that we coddle in our hearts. “You are what you dwell upon.”

• Complaining- assuming I deserve more than what God has given me.
• Covetousness- unhappy with what I have and envying what someone else has.
• Anger and Bitterness- resentment over the ill treatments of life, real or perceived.
• Unforgiveness- holding a grudge toward someone instead of forgiving as commanded.
• Independence- assuming I don’t need God or others, or disobedience to the Word.
• Resistance to authority- being unwilling to be told what to do by others. A devilish desire to rule over others, and a desire to call the shots and come out on top.
• Discord- causing problems because we feel we are in the right and our way must be adhered to. Gossiping and slander go hand in hand with this.
• People pleasing- to gain acceptance at all costs. If you don’t give it, I will war with you.
• Self Promotion- the desire for recognition and the fear of being overlooked or under-appreciated. This is the desire for pre-eminence (big shot status) in the church.

Jim Berg says:

“The greatest danger is always the flesh.

The gospel is always the answer.

God’s glory is always the goal.”

To “glorify God” is to live in such a way that we give others the right estimation of God by our words and deeds.

This is walking humbly with our God.

How do we know what God is like and what He expects? By reading His word.

How do we go about changing if we have wrong attitudes? By reading His word.

Does God resist us and work against us if we are proud in our hearts? Yes. He says so in His word.

Thankful for a great weekend with believers from another church, and for the power of the Word of God to change lives.

A few pics of the weekend: