For those who have read The Essence of Joy, you know Volume 3 in Cinnamah-Brosia’s Inspirational Collection was presented as The Essence of Love coming in 2018. Creating a list from 1 Corinthians 13 of all the things “love is,” guess what? Every one of them whispered the word “humility” into my spirit. And. . . the title changed to
THE ESSENCE OF HUMILITY:
Live and Love Like Jesus
In Matthew 22:36-40, when asked what the most important commandment was,
“Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
To love above all else with everything you have and your neighbor as yourself requires humility.
Jesus humility showed in all aspects of His life. Philippians 2:5-8 tells us,
“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”
To live, love, (and die) like Jesus did requires great humility. How do we live and love like Jesus?
Your stories bring Cinnamah-Brosia and friends’ to life at The Coffee Cottage. Their stories (so yours too) are vital to these devotionals. Stories needed for Volume 3 necessarily need to be lessons, triumphs, and challenges faced in the area of humility as God asks us to reach out in love to others. If you are wondering about this because you have not read The Essence of Courage or The Essence of Joy, please email me for an example.
Only the bones of a story are needed. You do not need to be a writer. Even a few sentences will work. I’m looking for personal examples from your life experiences. What a blessing for your story to be an encouragement to others. All “C-B” and friends’ stories are fictionalized, sometimes combine more than 1 person’s story, and details are created details to make the story fit the characters and setting. That also helps maintain your anonymity with the readers. (Your first name only will be acknowledged at the end of the book as a contributor to these stories.)
Here are some starters for your stories to get your thoughts moving on this topic. Share about a time God called you to show His love that required humility. You may think of some that I haven’t even touched on here. That’s awesome! Share away. Email your stories to Lynn@LynnUWatson.com. Would like to have these by March 15, please.
*Being inconvenienced to show love to someone else;
*Serving a difficult-to-love person;
*God asked you to love/serve another that was far outside your comfort zone;
*To love as God asked, a sacrifice was required of you;
*God asked you to love on the person who betrayed you; *Though deeply wounded you and your spouse found forgiveness and reconciliation and came back together after separation or divorce;
*Showing “tough love” in a humble way;
*Responding with grace and integrity, rather than revenge
when poison arrows were shot at you;
*Avoiding broken relationships by willingly give up something rightfully yours;
*Overcome the belief its beneath you to show love to the person God has asked you to love/serve;
*Being the boss or the one with money and power and treating your employees with love and respect rather than lording your position over them;
*The Bible says if you tell what you have done, you already have your reward. How do you serve anonymously? That often requires great humility.
*You risked your life to show love to another.
*You were overlooked for an honor, promotion, etc, that you truly believed would be yours. You felt the recipient was much less deserving. How did God show you to honor that person and keep jealously from eating you up?
*A time requiring your admission of wrongdoing, which meant swallowing much pride, asking for forgiveness. Forgiveness may have been granted or not – God still asked you to love that person.
It would be awesome for one person to share their personal love story (marriage). It doesn’t have to be perfect — just honest and faithful. Rebekah and Isaac’s love story is considered one of the most beautiful in the Bible. Their marriage was not perfect, however. I do intend to include Rebekah in one of the “women of the Bible” segments. These would fit together well.
Copyright 2018, Lynn U. Watson