Psalm 51:10—“Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me.”
We all go about our days “trying to” do what we are taught from the Bible. Yes, the road isn’t easy. Somehow, the days we strongly resolve to stay humble is the day that Satan also puts on his determined-to-be-more-crafty hat! It is at this time we need to remember Philippians 2:5-8. (“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”)
There is another important point to keep in mind during all of this. In addition to our outward actions, we must be conscious and bring to God our thoughts, intentions, and motives behind our actions, which include unforgiveness, personal opinion, fear, pride, or overwhelming emotions. Whatever we do (namely our actions, our decisions, and so on) are governed by this, our intent. Yes, we are very aware of some of the contaminated motives that we allow to fester in our hearts, maybe because of our hurt ego, or other reasons. Then there is the issue of us harboring impure motives of which we are unaware. For this, we need God’s help. “He knows my name. He knows my every thought. He sees me when I fall and He lifts me when I call.”
We need to ask God to reveal these motives and any other sin that we haven’t brought to His feet for our pardon, so that we can do this and follow Christ in our quest to live a righteous life. We need cleansing because, though our Spirit stays willing, our flesh is weak. We need to ask God to purify our heart. When we try to keep Jesus as our role model for how we live, here are questions we can ask ourselves on the brink of crossroads: Does this put me or the other person first? Does this make me ‘to be more’ or make me ‘to be nothing’(humble)? Despite being God, Lord Jesus displayed the purity of His motives by giving up all He had. We must focus to become like Jesus… to be nothing – not in what we or others think about us (worth or status) but in our humility (nature).
Remember: Matthew 5:8 (“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”)
