"As God's messenger I give each of you God's warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you" (Romans 12:3).
A newly appointed director of affairs for our ministry came to me for counsel after being given his assignment. "Tell me," he inquired, "what are the biggest problems that I will encounter in my new area of responsibility?"
"Three major ones," I responded. "First, pride, the problem that causes Satan to seek a place of authority over God Himself, resulting in his expulsion from the heavenly kingdom. Since creation, man's greatest problem has been pride - thinking more highly of oneself than one ought to think.
"Your second problem will be materialism - the desire to accumulate wealth, to live the good life, to keep up with the Joneses with better houses, cars, clothes, and security.
"And the third problem will be sex, the temptation to immorality. Man's second greatest drive after self-perservation is sex. In the marriage bond, sex is one of the most beautiful of the God-given privileges. But out of marriage, it results in grieving and quenching the Spirit and, ultimately, in the discipline of God. Therefore, be faithful to the wife that God has given you and love her as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25).
"Keep yourself humble by God's power. Seek the simple life and be motivated and constrained by the love of God for the souls of men, rather than for the good things of this world."
This is my counsel to all of our staff. It is my message to all Christian leaders and to all who seek to live godly lives.
The highways and byways of the world are littered with men and women of great talent and ability who are no longer being used of God. The fire has gone out of their hearts; the smile is gone from their faces. They harvest no fruit for the kingdom. They have fallen, thinking more highly of themselves than they ought to think, after the example of Satan, the author of pride.
God's Word admonishes us to think soberly, wisely, prudently and modestly. The faith which we each have is a gift from God, measure by Him. That fact alone should produce in you and me a true, humility, changing any feeling of pride to one of gratitude. The truly humble person regards God as the source of all blessings.
TODAY'S ACTION POINT: When the temptation comes to think more highly of myself than I ought to think, with God's help I will remember that everything I have is a gift of His grace. I will humble myself before God and man and, by faith, live a supernatural, godly life, dedicated to the extension of His kingdom
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