Day 16: Grace for the Humble
Bible passage: James 4:1–10; Philippians 2:5–11
What Causes Quarrels?
Today is Saturday 16th of January 2021. Welcome to Day 16 of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. On Day 9 we chose to humble ourselves under God’s hand. Today, on the way to the cross, we look at what pride does between people.
James asks a blunt question. What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? He answers it himself. They come from the desires that are at war within us. We want what we do not have, and we fight to get it (James 4:1–2).
The Root and the Remedy
Pride Hides Itself
Pride is the one fault that is easier to see in everybody else. It shows itself as criticism, as the need to win, as comparison, as stubbornness and as the inability to say sorry. Proverbs warns that pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall (Proverbs 16:18).
Greater Grace
James reminds us that God longs jealously for the spirit He has placed within us (James 4:5). He wants our whole heart, and our self-centred desires pull the other way. Yet James does not leave us there. He says that God gives grace generously, and then he quotes the Scriptures. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6 (NLT)
The proud person pushes against God and finds God pushing back. The humble person comes with empty hands and finds them filled.
Come Close
What follows is a string of short, urgent commands. Humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you (James 4:7–8). James ends as he began: humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up (James 4:10).
The Mind of Christ
Nobody has shown us humility as Jesus has. Paul writes that although He was God, He did not cling to His rights. He took the position of a slave and was born as a human being. He humbled Himself in obedience to God, and died a criminal’s death on a cross (Philippians 2:6–8).
That is why, Paul says, God raised Him to the place of highest honour (Philippians 2:9). Nobody has ever stooped lower, and nobody has ever been lifted higher. The pattern of the cross and the resurrection is the pattern for us: first down, and then up.
Walking Humbly
Three Steps for Today
Ask the awkward question. Pray, “Lord, where is pride at work in me?” If you are brave, ask someone who knows you well.
Say sorry first. Is there someone you need to go to and ask for forgiveness? Do not wait for them to make the first move.
Take the lower place. Do one act of service today that nobody will notice.
Peter sums up the life that humility makes possible. Be of one mind, sympathise with each other, love each other, be tender-hearted and keep a humble attitude (1 Peter 3:8).
Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus, thank You that You humbled Yourself for me, all the way to the cross. Show me the pride that I cannot see in myself. Forgive me for the quarrels it has caused and the people it has hurt. Give me the same attitude that You had. I come close to You today with empty hands. Fill them with Your grace. Amen.
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