Hello friends! So sorry for the late post! With internet issues and a busy couple of days, I wasn’t able to post when I wanted. Thank you so much for your patience and for being here! I hope you are doing well and enjoying “Humble Roots.” This book is just blowing me away at how much humility is the missing peace to rest, freedom, and truly living for Christ.
Here are this week’s discussion questions:
Chapter 3: Returning to Our Roots
*Hannah asserts that both pride and humility are fundamental to our character. They are either something we are or are not, rather than something we can attain. What is your reaction to this assertion?
*How do we learn humility from Jesus rather than just choose it?
*If we are to be grafted onto Him, onto the vine, what must we give up first? How does our ego get in the way of being one with Christ?
Chapter 4: Family Tree
*How does pride get in the way of having a proper view of others? Does it tend to lend to comparison and jealousy? Have you seen this to be true in your life?
*How does having a proper view of our own humanity lead to humility?
*“When we are consumed with God’s glory, we forget to worry about our own…when we seek God’s glory, we’ll be able to appreciate it in the people around us. Instead of seeing them as threats to our own glory, we will see them as beautiful reflections of His” (pg. 76). Do you find this to be true?
Scripture of the Week
John 15:1-5
Philippians 2:3-11
John 14:6
Prayer of the Week
Father God, forgive us for the pride that we have. In this world it’s so easy to compare and be green with envy. We see the highlight reels from people’s lives and forget that we are all just flawed humans, just dirt. Help us to remember that we are nothing without You and apart from You we can do nothing. We do long to be grafted onto the Vine and to walk with You in humility as we live here on earth. Help us to release our pride and learn from Jesus. We thank You for Your understanding and patience and love for us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
For Next Week
*Read Part Two (Chapters 5-7)
For some reason I never thought of pride as being the other side of the coin that has humility. But after reading this week’s chapters, it’s so obvious to me! I think it’s very easy to not lump ourselves into the “proud people” category because we define pride differently in ourselves than others. We can excuse our behavior/attitude more easily in ourselves than we can in others. We give ourselves grace when we mess up (i.e., not considering it a big deal), but bark or silently criticize what someone else has done or is doing. That’s why it made so much sense when Hannah says, “And if we try to “embrace the mess” without understanding where the mess came from in the first place, we’ll never grow past it.” (Page 54)
Another “aha” moment came to me when Hannah associated pride with identity. Since God created man in His image, I generally have related man’s identify with God’s – in the sense that our identity stems from His. But with the fall, humans have truly had an identity crisis. We’re God’s creation, and yet, we are in a fight against our identity as a result of being in this broken world.
I’ve been reading Romans the past few months and it’s been very convicting. Romans 11:18 says, “Do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.” This verse relates significantly to Hannah’s statement: “We must give up the pretense that we can root ourselves.” (Page 57) I honestly don’t know why pride is such a difficult thing to uproot – and yet, I feel this is the source of every other sin. But we’re still so content to appease our sinful ways and tiptoe around our mess…all the while telling ourselves we’re not “that bad” and still living for God.
“We ask, “What would Jesus do?” but really mean, “What would Jesus do if He were me?” (Page 75) Ouch!? That hurts, but that’s the truth. We often disguise what we’re doing as “the Lord’s work” when in reality it’s got our names written all over it!
So what can we do then? A quick fix or bandaid approach just won’t cut it. We’ve got to go deeper, to the root of it all. We’ve got to stare our hearts in the face and ask what is the condition of our hearts? And we have to answer honestly. If we simply respond with face value, it’s only going to get us so far.
This struggle to let go of our pride is real. It’s daily. It’s a constant releasing of and dying to ourselves – and submitting to God. “We can no longer simply be content to attempt to imitate Him; we must become part of Him in order to reflect Him.” (Page 57) We can’t have it both ways. And if we’re honest, I think we not only know this but also don’t want it like that.
What we really want is rest from this rat race we’re living in. We don’t want the responsibility of having all the answers, doing all the things, being everything to everyone. That is why it is so profound Christ became one of us. To put Himself in our shoes, to actually know what this human life is like. To teach us where our focus should be. “…Jesus shows us our true identity as people dependent on God for life.” (Page 57)
To be needy, particularly in the Western culture, is frowned upon. Sure, we enjoy helping people out every now and then – but don’t forget to get the tax receipt so it’s deductible at the end of the year. It’s sad that much of our giving even has a selfish mindset. But that’s “just the way it is,” right? If we can wrap our minds and our hearts around our own neediness – not separating ourselves from the rest – only then will we begin to see a sliver of a change.
And that’s how it starts: small. Being justified by Christ was a one-and-done deal; being sanctified by Him takes a lifetime. As hard as it is to be discouraged by this, we must not be. “[R]ather than being like God in His unlimited Divinity, we are to be like God in our limited humanity.” (Page 77)
He’s perfect. He’s good. He’s God – thank Him we’re not!? We are called to freedom, in Christ. As Galatians 5:1 says, “ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Some days it’s harder to walk in that freedom – we get tangled up in trying to free ourselves – but that’s ok. We aren’t called to free ourselves; He’s already done that for us. We are called to be rooted in Him, walk with Him, and rest in Him. This type of grounding…now that will nourish our souls.