There was a young preacher who gave a keynote speech at a conference that was well attended by other pastors from all over. His delivery of his speech was excellent, and received a standing ovation at the end. Feeling pretty good about himself, the pastor turned to exit the stage.
Before he made it off the stage, the next speaking pastor, who was considerably older, entered the stage, and approached him with a smile. The older pastor took the younger pastor by the shoulders, and turned him toward the clapping, hollering audience. He then leaned forward and whispered in younger pastor's ear, "The devil is on your back brother."
How well do you deal with success? It can be tough for me. I can begin to get a big head even when I'm not particularly successful. All it really takes is one compliment from a church member and I begin to think He's right. I am awesome. It's not a destructive thought in and of itself. But it subtly leads to something far more dangerous - arrogance. Before long I find myself working entirely for other people's gratification. Suddenly, I cease to be helpful to other people when I think like that.
Obviously, humbly pursuing God's plan for my life is the only way to find true purpose and fulfillment. There's just one problem for me with that last sentence. It sounds like one of those Christianese blah, blah, blah statements that I've heard a million people say a million times throughout my whole life. Fortunately, God met me where I'm at, and gave me a fresh view on humility. Last December, I was talking with a mentor of mine and he summed it up beautifully with this quote.
"The world won't touch you if you're broken. But Jesus won't touch you until you're broken."
Cover photo courtesy of lejoe at Flickr.com
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