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- Oct 26, 2007
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Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Philippians 2:3
When you feel threatened by others in any way, your natural reaction is to puff yourself up to appear bigger than them, in an effort to impress or intimidate them. Bushmen have found this technique effective with hyenas: they simply hold a piece of wood on their heads to make themselves appear taller.
It’s one thing to strike a defensive posture when physically threatened. That’s often a necessity. It’s usually not necessary, however, to allow yourself to feel threatened by someone socially or personally. If you’re confident about your identity, who you are in Christ, you won’t let their words and actions get to you.
In fact, rather than trying to give others the impression that you’re more powerful or better than them, or of a higher social standing, you can sit back and let them play their “I’m-better-than-you” game all by themselves. When you have the Spirit of Christ in you, you don’t need to be concerned for your self-esteem, but can focus on the needs of others…including show-offs.
This is the secret of the attitude Jesus wanted you to have when He said, “Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant” (Matthew 20:26).
When you feel threatened by others in any way, your natural reaction is to puff yourself up to appear bigger than them, in an effort to impress or intimidate them. Bushmen have found this technique effective with hyenas: they simply hold a piece of wood on their heads to make themselves appear taller.
It’s one thing to strike a defensive posture when physically threatened. That’s often a necessity. It’s usually not necessary, however, to allow yourself to feel threatened by someone socially or personally. If you’re confident about your identity, who you are in Christ, you won’t let their words and actions get to you.
In fact, rather than trying to give others the impression that you’re more powerful or better than them, or of a higher social standing, you can sit back and let them play their “I’m-better-than-you” game all by themselves. When you have the Spirit of Christ in you, you don’t need to be concerned for your self-esteem, but can focus on the needs of others…including show-offs.
This is the secret of the attitude Jesus wanted you to have when He said, “Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant” (Matthew 20:26).
