“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient,
bearing with one another in love.”
Ephesians 4:2 NIV
This is one of the verses that comes across my mind many times a day while I’m with my little first grade friends…especially the ‘patient’ part of it! J I love this verse because it sums up who I want to be and portray, not just to my little ones, but to all who I come in contact with. I hope that people can see gentleness, patience, love, and humility in me.
Humility, however, is sometimes a difficult thing. The human nature in all of us can get a little prideful at times and get in the way of our true calling, whatever it may be. I can look at my own life and see times (past AND present, lol) where the Lord has had to check me on this. One time in particular was at open house at school. A little boy who would be in my class that year came up to me all excited and introduced himself. He was full of excitement and said, “My mommy wanted me to have the BEST first grade teacher ever! She wanted me to have the smartest teacher and one who could teach reading the best!” I felt my smile widen as I patted his head and thought, wow, what a compliment. As I was psychologically patting myself on the back, the little guy went on to say, “She wanted me to have the very best this year…but that teacher retired, so I get to be in YOUR class!” Say what?!?! LOL! I had to widen my smile even more and laugh at what he thought was tremendous praise. I walked away thanking the Lord for the “teachable” moments that He puts in my life.
Thank you Lord for keeping me humble and when I lose sight of it, thank you for getting me back on track. Just like when a tree is cut down, the stump still lives…sending the roots down a little deeper, a little more fervently so that it can still bring forth more fruit. I never want to lose my humility and get to the place where I can’t be productive for Him.
