Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / May 25 - The Strength in Humility
Transcript
- 0:02Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
- 0:06rooted in Scripture and relevant for today.
- 0:10May 25th The strength and humility.
- 0:13We live in a world that is constantly measuring followers,
- 0:17grades, achievements, status. Everything gets ranked and it's
- 0:21easy to feel like you need to keep up or prove yourself.
- 0:24The pressure is real and it's relentless, and sometimes the
- 0:28response is to push harder, to compete more aggressively, to
- 0:32make sure people know what you're capable of.
- 0:35But Proverbs chapter 16, verse 19 offers a perspective that
- 0:40genuinely challenges that instinct.
- 0:43It is better to be of a lowly spirit.
- 0:44With the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.
- 0:47In other words, humble and less beats prideful and plenty.
- 0:52The company you keep, the spirit you carry, the posture of your
- 0:56heart matters more than how impressive your position looks
- 0:58on the surface. That's a completely different
- 1:02set of values from what culture typically promotes, and it takes
- 1:05real courage to live by it. Verse 20 adds something
- 1:09beautiful. Whoever gives thought to the
- 1:11Word will discover good and blessed is he who trusts in the
- 1:14Lord. Notice those two things,
- 1:17Thinking carefully about God's Word and trusting in the Lord.
- 1:22These aren't passive activities. They require intentionality.
- 1:27You have to choose to slow down, to reflect, to bring your heart
- 1:30to God rather than just reacting to everything around you.
- 1:34And the promise attached to that kind of life is blessing.
- 1:38Not necessarily wealth or fame, but something deeper, goodness
- 1:42discovered along the way, and the steady settledness of a life
- 1:45built on trust. Psalm 59, verse 8 shifts
- 1:49perspective in a way that's actually quite funny if you sit
- 1:52with it. But you, O Lord, laugh at them.
- 1:56You hold all the nations in derision, the enemies and
- 2:00arrogant forces that feel so threatening to us.
- 2:03God is not rattled by them. He holds all the power, and the
- 2:07schemes of the proud are, from his vantage point, ultimately
- 2:10futile. That doesn't mean injustice
- 2:13doesn't matter or that we should be dismissive of real pain, but
- 2:18it does mean that when you're facing betrayal, when someone
- 2:21has wronged you or made your life harder, God sees it and He
- 2:25is not powerless. You don't have to take matters
- 2:28into your own hands to make things right.
- 2:31Galatians chapter 6, verse 10 then brings us back to the
- 2:35ground level with beautifully practical instruction.
- 2:39So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and
- 2:44especially to those who are of the household of faith.
- 2:47As we have opportunity, that phrase is worth pausing on.
- 2:51Opportunities to do good surround you every day.
- 2:54They're just easy to miss or dismiss as too small to matter.
- 2:58The kind word to someone who looks like they're struggling.
- 3:02Defending someone who's being talked about unfairly.
- 3:05Showing up consistently for the people in your life who need
- 3:08you. Serving in your church or youth
- 3:11group even when it's not convenient.
- 3:13These aren't glamorous things, but they are the things that
- 3:17build genuine strength of character, the kind that doesn't
- 3:20depend on other people's recognition or ranking.
- 3:23The kind that, as Proverbs puts it, lasts.
- 3:27True strength isn't loud. It's quiet, consistent, and
- 3:31rooted in something that doesn't shift.
- 3:33You don't have to compete for your value.
- 3:35You don't have to prove yourself to anyone.
- 3:38God sees you clearly, He values you deeply, and He's inviting
- 3:41you to live from that secure place humbly, faithfully, and
- 3:45usefully. Let's pray.
- 3:48Heavenly Father, thank you for showing me that real strength
- 3:51doesn't look like what the world applauds.
- 3:53Help me to choose humility over pride, even when it costs me.
- 3:57In the moment when I feel the pressure to compete or prove
- 4:00myself, remind me that my worth is already settled in You.
- 4:05Teach me to trust You in the unfair moments knowing you see
- 4:08everything, and help me to use every opportunity I have today
- 4:12to do genuine good for the people around me in Jesus name,
- 4:16Amen. What if the battles hitting your
- 4:19family are not random and your home can become a place where
- 4:22darkness loses every right to stay?
- 4:25The Secured Home is a powerful six book prayer series for
- 4:28believers who want to guard their households with biblical
- 4:30authority, peace and confidence in Jesus Christ.
- 4:34Book 1, Guarded Thresholds, fortifies every doorway, room,
- 4:39and entry point with prayerful protection.
- 4:41Book 2, Cleansed Rooms, helps reclaim spaces marked by fear,
- 4:46unrest, and spiritual defilement.
- 4:49Book 3, Closed Breaches, exposes hidden access points and severs
- 4:54every agreement with darkness. Book 4, Broken Assignments,
- 4:58confronts oppression, torment, and attacks against your family.
- 5:03Book 5, Consecrated Walls, dedicates every space and rhythm
- 5:07of the home to God. Book 6, Abiding Peace, shows how
- 5:11to maintain spiritual order, rest, and holy presence every
- 5:15day. Order now on Amazon or visit
- 5:18prayerscripts.org. Now I invite you to spend time
- 5:22with God in today's three-year Bible reading plan.
- 5:26Proverbs, chapter 16, verses 19 to 20 World English Bible.
- 5:32It is better to be of a lowly. Spirit with the poor than to
- 5:35divide the plunder with the proud.
- 5:37He who heeds the Word finds prosperity.
- 5:40Whoever trusts in Yahweh is blessed.
- 5:43Psalm Chapter 59 World English Bible Deliver me from my
- 5:47enemies. My God set me on high from those
- 5:50who rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of
- 5:53iniquity. Save me from the bloodthirsty
- 5:56men, for behold, they lie in wait for my soul.
- 6:00The mighty gather themselves together against me, not for my
- 6:03disobedience, nor for my sin. Yahweh, I have done no wrong,
- 6:07yet they are ready to attack me. Rise up, behold, and help me.
- 6:12You, Yahweh, God of armies, the God of Israel, rouse yourself to
- 6:15punish the nation's. Show no mercy to the wicked
- 6:18traitors. They return at evening howling
- 6:21like dogs and prowl around the city.
- 6:24Behold, they spew with their mouth.
- 6:26Swords are in their lips, for they say, Who hears us?
- 6:30But you, Yahweh, laugh at them. You scoff at all the nations.
- 6:34Oh my strength I watch for you, for God is my high tower.
- 6:38My God will go before me with his loving kindness.
- 6:41God will let me look at my enemies in triumph.
- 6:43Don't kill them, or my people may forget.
- 6:47Scatter them by your power and bring them down, Lord our
- 6:50shield. For the sin of their mouth and
- 6:52the words of their lips. Let them be caught in their
- 6:54pride for the curses and lies which they utter.
- 6:58Consume them in wrath. Consume them and they will be no
- 7:01more. Let them know that God rules in
- 7:04Jacob to the ends of the earth. At evening let them return.
- 7:08Let them howl like a dog and go around the city.
- 7:11They shall wander up and down for food and wait all night if
- 7:14they aren't satisfied. But I will sing of your
- 7:17strength. Yes, I will sing aloud of your
- 7:20loving kindness in the morning. For you have been my high tower,
- 7:23a refuge in the day of my distress.
- 7:26To you my strength I will sing praises, for God is my high
- 7:30tower, the God of my mercy. Galatians Chapter 6 World
- 7:34English Bible Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault,
- 7:39you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit
- 7:42of gentleness, looking to yourself so that you also aren't
- 7:46tempted, bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law
- 7:50of Christ. For if a man thinks himself to
- 7:53be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
- 7:57But let each man examine his own work, and then he will have
- 8:00reason to boast in himself and not in someone else.
- 8:04For each man will bear his own burden.
- 8:07But let him who is taught in the Word share all good things with
- 8:10him who teaches. Don't be deceived.
- 8:12God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows that he
- 8:15will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh
- 8:19will from the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to
- 8:22the Spirit, will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
- 8:26Let's not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due
- 8:29season if we don't give up. So then, as we have opportunity,
- 8:34let's do what is good toward all men, and especially toward those
- 8:37who are of the household of the faith.
- 8:40See with what large letters I write to you with my own hand.
- 8:44As many as desire to make a good impression in the flesh compel
- 8:47you to be circumcised, just so they may not be persecuted for
- 8:51the cross of Christ. For even they who receive
- 8:54circumcision don't keep the law themselves, but they desire to
- 8:58have you circumcised, that they may boast in your flesh.
- 9:02But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord
- 9:06Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me,
- 9:10and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither is
- 9:13circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new
- 9:17creation. As many as walk by this rule,
- 9:20peace and mercy beyond them and on God's Israel.
- 9:24From now on, let no one cause me any trouble, for I bear the
- 9:27marks of the Lord Jesus branded on my body.
- 9:30The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- 9:32Be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
- 9:37Thanks for joining us on Bible Chat, where Scripture meets
- 9:40everyday life. If today's devotional encouraged
- 9:43you, share it with a friend and be sure to follow the podcast so
- 9:47you won't miss the next conversation.
- 9:49Until next time, stay rooted in truth, anchored in hope, and
- 9:52walking daily with Jesus.