Humble and Contrite

Today's Reading:
Isaiah 66:1-24
Revelation 3:7-22
Proverbs 1:1-7 
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Focus Verses: Isaiah 66:1-2
1 This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? 2 Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD. "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.

Insight:
Most of us spend too much time thinking about how we appear to other people. We also hear a lot about the importance of self-esteem, having a good feeling about ourselves. The really important questions we should be asking ourselves are: "What kind of qualities does God look for in his people?" and, "Who is it that God esteems?"

According to the prophet Isaiah, God esteems those who are humble, those who are contrite, and those who tremble at his word.

Response and Action:
I need to be careful to humble myself before God and before other people. I want to be contrite, recognizing my weaknesses, my sins, and my need for God. I need to have great reverence and love for God's word. I will commit myself to reading, considering, obeying, memorizing, and living the truth of God given to me in the pages of Scripture.

O Lord, I humble myself before you. Show me your ways and guide me by your holy word. Give me a heart that is honest and ready to follow you. By the power and grace of your Holy Spirit, lead, teach, transform, shape and strengthen me, that I might delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Through Christ, help me to be a person you esteem. Amen.

Spiritual Formation Verses: Matthew 23:11-12
11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Resources:
Humility: True Greatness
by C. J. Mahaney