Humility is the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and life. Proverbs 22:4
“Humility, like fame, rarely grows to full bloom overnight. Humble, generous giving of oneself to the work of God involves conscious choices and lots of practice. It requires building a solid bedrock of humility that can withstand the temptations of too much self-promotion…It is precisely a bedrock of humility that can keep our ego towers from tumbling when the heights we reach cause us to lose touch with our grounding…But reaching out and grasping humility in our faltering can be daunting. A humble yes in those moments has us reaching for help from God, loved ones, and anyone else who is nearby. True humility accepts help when it is offered and asks for help even when the world seems to believe we have it all together.”
Lisa M. Hendey in The Grace of Yes: Eight Virtues for Generous Living (Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2014) 73.
Today I fly to Dallas to facilitate meetings at Dallas Theological Seminary with administrators of a peer group of seminaries to discuss findings from our annual advancement study that included 14 schools: Asbury, Ashland, Covenant, Dallas, Denver, Fuller, GCTS, Northeastern, Northern, Phoenix, Reformed, Sioux Falls, Western, and Westminster.
As Hendey notes, because “generous giving of oneself to the work of God involves conscious choices and lots of practice” we need each other on the journey. I love the humility and generosity that characterizes these men and women. They acknowledge that they don’t have it all figured out but freely share a wealth of wisdom with each other so that each school flourishes!
Father in heaven, as we generously give ourselves to your work, empowered by your Holy Spirit, we acknowledge our need for you and for each other. Help us make the right choices on the journey, lift us up when we stumble, and give us courage to ask for help and to aid others on the way. Hear our prayer in the name of Jesus, for all we do belongs to our Risen Savior and is for His glory. Amen.