Danny Boy

I read this short story today that started out really really really slow, but somehow picked up and ended shockingly. I have to say it was something I wasn't expecting, but considering the site I don't see why I was so surprised at the end of it all. It was a long metaphor about Jesus' sacrifice for us, and the right attitude we should have in light of that. It doesn't tell us to be consumed by guilt, but rather have a gratitude for Him, for the Savior that freed us from the guilt and led us to something better than ourselves. The only problem with the story was that it took about 100 pages to go through it all.

The story linked me to this passage in the Bible.

Philippians 2

Imitating Christ's Humility

¹If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ²then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. ³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ⁴Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
⁶Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

'Do not do anything out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.' Here's a lesson for me if I've ever seen one. I find that I"m calculating in a way that I will tend to act for my own benefit regardless of the situation, and that usually it ends up being the first thing I think of. It's something I've been working on, and quite honestly I'm still failing pretty badly at this point. It's hard to let everything go for God, which is an interesting thought, because He let everything go for us. We can repay God for all that He has done, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

Humility is such an important idea, with very relevant practical applications. I find it pretty easy to consider someone worse than me, but to humble myself to someone I feel is lesser and put his/her needs and burdens over mine is certainly a strange idea. Slowly I've been working at giving God credit for the things of my life, and I hope as a part of that I begin to put others in a place over me, to love them more than I love myself.

I've realized that our journey needs to begin with God. That before we have the capacity to humble ourselves to others, and to carry their burdens, we must have a communion with God that reflects our unity with Him, our desires to spend more time with him and grow in him. Through this process, our hearts will begin to turn towards the right direction. No longer will we be influenced by our own ambitions, because we know that humanely ambitions are doomed to fail. The will of God prevails, and so it naturally makes sense we should learn from God how to be successful in life.