Humility : Being humble with our friends and family by Kelli Johnson

Wow, I have been so convicted lately. I can think of two times in the last week where my husband called me on his way in to work, and asked me for forgiveness for very small infractions that he had committed against me. They really were only very small infractions. And I am not one to let "little" things offend me so I may not have even readily recognized them. However, what I want to commend here though, was his humility in asking for forgiveness. I have to admit here that I am much to proud at times and that I tend to "minimize or try to justify" my unwillingness to seek forgiveness. Yes, that is really what it is, unwillingness. Here is a biblical principle, the act of seeking out forgiveness with one another, yet even though we are Christians we tend to not practice this on a regular basis. This is exactly where the love of God is shown the most. Humility.

As parents we also must face this enormous challenge to humble ourselves even before our children. Our kids do not need to see us so stern in that we do not regularly ask their forgiveness. Who are we to act so self-righteous that we can't ask a "child" to forgive us. So much can be actually taught to a child if we do this. We should not only ask for forgiveness towards our children when we have sinned against them but also allow them to see your willingness to ask for their prayers concerning an area of sin in your life. Let me try to put this into practical application. Take for example you as a mom/dad slamming the kitchen cupboard out of anger, your impatience towards the slow driver in front of your vehicle, (speeding....did I really write that one?) maybe you yelled at your child or gave a "look" at your husband that didn't exactly show respect or submission..... My suggestion is to get down at your childs level and humbly ask for them to pray with you. Maybe something like, "Mommy really needs your prayers, I am having a problem with anger right now or I am being very impatient or....(*whatever your sin is)...." That is true humility. Your children will learn so much from your willingness to be humble and vulnerable with them. How about one step further. If you know that you are really stuggling with a particular sin in your life, ask for you family as a whole to help hold you accountable and lift you up in prayer about the sin. (( A word of caution here, if you have a child that tends to be "wise in his own eyes" you may want to do some training on teaching them how they can encourage you to righteousness IN LOVE, not in a way that throws it in your face or encourages that child to feel superior.)) My point here is, each child is different, and some will not encourage you to righteousness with humility but with haughtiness.

As husbands and wives, if you have offended the other in front of the children, make sure that you restore in front of the children. They need to see the practical principle of humility lived out in front of them. What an awesome truth and lesson this can be. We can teach so much by a text book and even the Bible, but how about live it. So much more will be captured and taken to heart. We as parents have such an awesome privilege to show our children what true humility really looks like..... A willingness to expose your sin, call sin SIN, and ask for their encouragement and accountability.

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"Jan/Feb 2000"