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presented by Lisa Bishop
I am examining ways to be grace in the workplace and learning about an aspect of grace—humility.
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14).
Have you ever uttered the words of the Pharisee, “God, I thank you I am not like other people. I thank you I am not like my coworker! She’s so loud. He’s so lazy. She is so incompetent.”
I have, and if you’re honest, you have too, even if you have whispered them silently to yourself. Because of our sin nature, we are prone to fall into the temptation of a self-elevating view that looks down on other people. We boast of the reasons we are better than others and we neglect our own shortcomings. Or worse, we put insufficiencies on a spectrum, and it just so happens our own faults are minimized while others’ faults are often put on blast.
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).
When you humble yourself, first before God, you get oodles of grace.
When it comes to being justified before God, we see the Pharisee listing the reasons he deserved God’s favor, but no amount of self-effort will earn you the grace of God. God cannot be bought or manipulated. That is good news because you and I will fall short, and Jesus fills the gap! The next time you are tempted to think more highly of yourself and less of others, remember you are loved. Thank God for his grace and humble yourself.