Eating Humble Pie

One of the best parts of Thanksgiving is all the desserts. Chocolate covered Oreos, apple pie, pumpkin pie, you name it, I'll eat it. But recently I have been learning to eat more humble pie. I read 1 Peter 5:6 where Peter suggests that we should humble our selves before the Hand of God that in His due time, He will lift us up. I have also been contemplating the Advent season that's now upon us. It was through humility that Christ came down from the Glories of Heaven to be born in a dirty stable, a place any of us would be abhorred to deliver a child, especially with all the modern medical marvels we have today. It was in humility that Jesus grew up in Nazareth, for even his own people said, "Nothing good comes from Nazareth!" It was in humility that Christ lived as a homeless man. "Foxes have dens but I don't have a home to call my own." It was in humility that Christ hung out with "sinners." It was in humility that he asked 12 blue collars to be his closest friends. It was in humility that He rode into Jeruselum on a donkey. It was in humility that he was betrayed by one of his closest friends by a kiss. It was in humility that Christ remained silent as he was beat and whipped. He did not try to save face or defend himself. How quickly do we try to venerate our self at the slightest hint of personal offense?
In humility, Christ was executed as a criminal who was innocent. Imagine the police coming to your door and dragging your husband out in cuffs, being accused of a crime he didn't commit. How would that fly?
Isn't it through humility that we realize our need for Christ's forgiveness? Isn't it through humility that we are able to consider forgiveness and love towards those who don't deserve it?
Then there's the rub. Truly we do not deserve the grace forwarded to us by God through Christ. Isn't that humbling? And isn't it humbling that in reality we are weak. All our attempts to be the best fill in the blank by our own efforts come up very short, very short. Christ said that we can not do any good thing our own. What is impossible to man is possible for God.
It is humbling when we are reminded we were saved for God's purposes and not our own.
It is Humility that allows us to deny our selves, to put others first, to love our neighbors. And what makes humility possible in our lives? It is Christ in us. We are dead to ourselves and alive to Christ!
This advent, let us keep our eyes looking forward the 2nd advent that is soon upon us. Let us continue to submit ourselves to Christ so that He can live in us and through us. We are lamps, lamps of love, lamps of humility, the Love of Christ, the Humilty of Christ.