Category: Character

Humility: A Biblical Perspective

There is no harder lesson for man to learn than the lesson of humility. It is the rarest of all gifts. It is a very rare thing to find a man or woman that is following closely the footsteps of the Master in meekness and humility. - Dwight L. Moody

Earlier this year on #BeHumbleDay, I provided a summary of Andrew Kerr’s The Humility Imperative.  Now, we’ll turn our attention to what the Bible says about humility.

In my Proverbs study, Solomon points out that it is impossible to be committed to the way of wisdom and at the same time manifest selfish pride.  Pride literally means “to be high, exalted, or haughty.”  Pride is regarding yourself as the most important person around.

Humility, on the other hand, is finding your worth so securely in God’s unearned favor that you are not very concerned about self-esteem at all.  A humble person doesn’t put himself down, avoid compliments, or play the martyr.

Click here to learn more from the Bible on Humility

Make Your Bed

If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. . . . And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made - that you made - and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better. - William H. McRaven

Did you know that “National Make Your Bed Day” is observed annually on September 11th?  OK, neither did I, but that fact combined with this month’s focus on Hard Work vs. Laziness offered a good opportunity to highlight Retired U.S. Navy Admiral William H. McRaven’s Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, making your bed can help improve your sleep by reducing the amount of tossing, turning, and restlessness which in return, can be good for your health.  Their survey also showed that people who make their bed daily more often have a better night’s sleep.

McRaven’s book followed his 2014 commencement speech for the graduating class at the University of Texas in Austin, whose slogan is “What starts here changes the world.”  In the speech, he provides ten lessons learned from his thirty-seven years as a Navy SEAL, culminating in his final assignment as a Four-Star Admiral and Commander of all U.S. Special Operations Forces.

He encouraged the graduates to consider this, “If every one of you changed the lives of just ten people, and each one of those folks changed the lives of another ten people—just ten—then in five generations—125 years—the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million people. Eight hundred million people. Think of it: over twice the population of the United States. Go one more generation and you can change the entire population of the world, eight billion people.”

Click here to learn more