A September Word from the Pastor
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)
“Oh Lord, it’s hard to humble when you’re perfect in every way!” is the opening line to a tongue in cheek song about pride. The purpose of the song is to show how silly our conceit can be. Biblically speaking, lack of humility is more than silly, it is a serious barrier to receiving God’s grace, as James brings out in the scripture above. The humble receive God’s grace. The proud is who God opposes. How do we know which camp we fall into? James gives us a checklist to follow.
1) Submit yourselves to God. (v7a) This involves far more than singing “He is Lord” on a Sunday morning. It is making the wilfull choice to do things God’s way in all areas of life. Without this, we are constantly fighting what God is trying to do.
2) Resist the Devil. (v7b) This means to oppose Satan and what He is trying to do in your life. Resisting can involved defense, as with temptation. It also includes offence, such as taking authority in Jesus name over what is not of God.
3) Come near to God. (v8a) Intentionally pursuit God. Make time to read His Word and pray. Be a part of what God is doing in a local church. Purposely fill your mind with the things of God. Do all for the objective of seeking Him.
4) Wash your hands. (v8b) Stop toying with things of this world. Clean your hands and life of all that dishonors to God.
5) Purify your hearts. (v8c) Be of a single mind and heart. I belong to God alone. I am here to do His will. I won’t try to have one foot planted in my kingdom and one one foot in the kingdom of God. My heart, passions, and desires point singularly to Christ.
6) Grieve, mourn and wail. (v9) Let any sin in your life grieve you like it does God. Let the Holy Spirit sharpen your conscience. Don’t become calloused to your spiritual failings. Don’t gleefully go on your merry way ignoring all that is unlike Jesus in your life. Mourn such things and turn to God for transformation.
So much could be said about each thing, but it all points to having a humble spirit before God which enables God to be at work in us and through us. You may look at this list and wonder how you could possibly do these things. James reminds us, “He gives more grace”. (v6) It is only by God’s grace we can have the humble heart to receive even more of His grace. Our part is to let God do this by choosing to submit, resist, draw near, wash, purify, and grieve. What we choose to do according to His will, God enables us to do by His Spirit. “Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble”, but with God’s grace we can and we must!