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He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 ESV
Charles Shulz’s first Peanuts cartoon strip was published on this day in 1950. Although Shulz never liked the name of the strip, his humorous depictions of the humble (and often humbled) Charlie Brown continue to resonate with readers.
When the prophet Micah summarizes what God desires from those who follow Him, he mentions three specific behaviors: doing the right thing in every business and personal transaction, extending mercy to those who need it, and demonstrating humility. Perhaps Micah’s deep compassion for the broken and disenfranchised (Micah 4:6) made it easy for him to mention the importance of humility.
In a media-saturated culture where screenagers reverence their rights, humility is often replaced with a worldview philosophers call “meism.” Like the Peanuts cartoons that often opposed ego-centrism, Micah reminds us that God’s directives are dishonored in a worldview in which humility itself has been humbled to the point of insignificance.
There will likely be at least one moment today when you will have to choose between your rights and humility, between what benefits you and what blesses another person. When that moment appears, remember Micah’s counsel that our self-promoting sacrifices (Micah 6:6-7) mean little to God—and practice enduring humility.
Prayer: Father, help me to walk humbly with You and to pursue another’s benefit more than my own.
Charles Shulz’s first Peanuts cartoon strip was published on this day in 1950. Although Shulz never liked the name of the strip, his humorous depictions of the humble (and often humbled) Charlie Brown continue to resonate with readers.
When the prophet Micah summarizes what God desires from those who follow Him, he mentions three specific behaviors: doing the right thing in every business and personal transaction, extending mercy to those who need it, and demonstrating humility. Perhaps Micah’s deep compassion for the broken and disenfranchised (Micah 4:6) made it easy for him to mention the importance of humility.
In a media-saturated culture where screenagers reverence their rights, humility is often replaced with a worldview philosophers call “meism.” Like the Peanuts cartoons that often opposed ego-centrism, Micah reminds us that God’s directives are dishonored in a worldview in which humility itself has been humbled to the point of insignificance.
There will likely be at least one moment today when you will have to choose between your rights and humility, between what benefits you and what blesses another person. When that moment appears, remember Micah’s counsel that our self-promoting sacrifices (Micah 6:6-7) mean little to God—and practice enduring humility.
Prayer: Father, help me to walk humbly with You and to pursue another’s benefit more than my own.
