1) 

Over the last 6 weeks we have been looking at the subject of our identity, and allowing God to change and transform us to become more like his son Jesus.  Over the next few weeks we are going to consider one aspect of our character which we need God’s help to change – our pride.

 

Be humble or you’ll stumble!

No matter what sport you are involved in, you will, I’m sure, have heard your coach shouting instructions at you from the sidelines.  “Stay on your man”, “Find the space”, “Keep your eye on the ball”, “Stay focused” etc.  Why does he shout these instructions?  Well you can assume that at that particular moment, you were likely doing the opposite!

 

The apostle Peter, when speaking to some young men, gives them this instruction,

 

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand”. (1 Peter 5v6)

 

This was obviously something that these young men especially needed to hear, and that we, as young people in 2007, also need to hear.  Pride is something that sportspeople are particularly prone to and humility is often looked upon, not as a quality, but as a negative characteristic – a lack of confidence and desire to win.   Now, of course, if we are going to succeed in our sport we need to believe in ourselves and have confidence in our ability. 

 

How then do we ensure our confidence doesn’t become arrogance?

 

What exactly is humility?

 

How do we ‘humble ourselves’?

 

In order to understand true humility, and learn to humble ourselves, we need to have a right view of:

a)      ourselves

b)      others

c)      Jesus 

 

This is what we will be looking at over the next 3 weeks.

 

Over this coming week consider this definition of humility, and ask God to highlight areas of pride in your life.

 

“Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts.  It means freedom from thinking about yourself one way or the other at all.”  Temple