The Humbled Exalted

Sorry to cut in, Josh... But, since the last few posts are about worship and fire for God, I can add this in, although I'm not so sure how it applies...

Luke 18:9-14

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody 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 up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men - 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 everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."



Today, during my acad programme at school, I was busy practicing my handwriting by writing down the answers. (The question paper was shared between 2-3 people because there was not enough sets for everybody.) One of the other guys sharing the paper with me just made this passing remark

"Nice handwriting, but there is a lot more room for improvement."

Well, nothing wrong with the statement, its just that the tone he used to say this has a "I-can-do-this-much-better-than-you" kind of tone... a.k.a it is as if he is trying to show off in my face that my effort is nothing compared to his normal handwriting.

Well, angry would be an understatement. I was like... fuming. My other classmate heard it, and he was also very angry. And he started to rant later to me about how the other guy is very proud, keeps thinking that he is a perfect person because he worked for it etc.

Oh yah, the guy that commented is James Lim, the guy I wanted to invite for camp.

About 10 minutes later, when I finally cooled down, I started to think about it.

A bit of background...

James Lim is a nice person from a first impression. But, after being buddies for the past 10 months, he has a lot of pride. And he loves to show off to everybody and anybody of "oh... how perfect my jumpshot is... my technique is much better than yours." etc.

I'm not saying that... oh his thinking is wrong etc. but I feel very concerned for him.

Then, my thinking shifted to myself. It is confirmed that I've done some "stunts" just to gain attention. So am I actually glorifying God? Or do I just want man's praises?

Food for thought.

Anyway, I guess the bottom line is this:

1. Reflect on what you are doing and thinking. Are you honoring God with them? Or do you do/think them because you want attention?

2. Do we actually think that we are a good person because we done this and that? Or we are good and righteous because of Jesus?

God is there. Always. But I guess a lot of people (myself included) cannot see this fact sometimes, be it when we are faced with pressure etc.