Day 29: The Desire to Be Great

I'm very interested in this week's theme: The Greatest Are The Servants. That idea basically holds the New Testament together (well, that and Jesus' death, I suppose), so it should be a good and challenging week.

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I always love that Jesus, even when His disciples are being selfish, never turns things around and makes it about His needs and desires. "It's painful to see how quickly we become selfish when we're anxious or afraid." Such a sad human characteristic, and so true. I think even Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane shows the human tendency for that: "Take this cup from me," and His immediate response to that emotion shows us what should be our immediate response: "Not my will but Yours be done."

A very interesting thought: "[when Jesus'] disciples expressed ambitions for greatness, Jesus didn't tell them to stop wanting to be great." Humility does NOT mean not striving to be the best. What it does mean is that, in order to be the best, you have to choose to be humble! What does that really mean? There's a good self test that we can use in any situation. We just have to answer this: will we exalt ourselves, or will we put ourselves to the side and become a servant? Practically, it means that we might have to apologize first after an argument. It might mean that we give the last piece of our favorite cake to our significant other. It might mean that we watch a boring movie just so that we can spend time with someone else. It might mean taking someone for a ride when their car breaks down. There are millions of other everyday things like this, and we always have the choice: will we make it about us, or will we make it about the other person/people?

It's odd to think that being great and being humble mean the same thing, but yet it's said time and time again in the Bible (today's VtR is a perfect example). This concept is going to be looked at in greater depth over the next few days. I'm looking forward to it.

Point to Ponder: Jesus teaches us to translate our desire for greatness into actions of humility.
It doesn't say "get rid of our desires for greatness and replace them with actions of humility." Being great means being humble. Our society definitely doesn't teach that. The best are the ones who know how to step on everyone else and get to the top, no matter the cost. Whoever has the most stuff, the most money, the best car, the biggest house, is the winner, and everyone should bow to them. The truth is that the greatest people are those who bow to others and open their hearts, their minds, their homes, their pocket books, and serve those around them.

Verse to Remember: Matthew 23:12- "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
Jesus is always turning things around. I imagine it would have been frustrating being a teacher of the law and hearing this kind of thing constantly.

Question to Consider: Is there some way my concept of humility needs to change?
I'm thinking that it will over the next few days. Even just the preview of today of what's to come has started my mind rolling a little bit.