Choice: Humility

Humility is huge for a Christian, yet so unnatural. Our world gives us a slew of things to put before God. The sin of this place that we live in twists and contorts everything that was created to be good into things of selfish gain. Everything that we are because of the fall pulls us toward selfish motivations in everything we do. A formerly introduced term (by you, Dr. Redick!) is Kenosis; this is the practice of the opposite. It is an emptying out, making oneself into nothing. We discussed in class how prayer as kenosis takes us outside of ourselves and into a level of compassion for others. I would go even further and say that in allows us to praise Jesus more effectively. For being a people that were originally made in his image, it makes sense that we are called to a thing like kenosis. Christ embodied the ultimate act of kenosis on the cross for us when He was crucified so that we might know him and spend eternity with him in heaven.

Why is kenosis such a struggle for me? It is not even vanity that hinders my ability to have a humble and self-ridden attitude. I believe that it goes much deeper than that. My unintentional hesitant nature toward kenosis stems from a control issue. And recently, I have found that most people struggle with the exact same thing. It is good to know that I am not the only one fighting with myself to try and give up control, but what can we do to fix it? How can we move closer to true practice of kenosis? I honestly have no idea what the answer to that question is. I have tried preaching truth to myself over and over. Proverbs 19:21 says “many are the plans in the mind of a man, but the purpose of the Lord will stand.” I believe the truths with all my heart and there are times when I believe that I have achieved kenosis and I adore those times, but I am not sure why I keep going back to my controlling ways. It is like a roller coaster.. and I know it will not be like a light switch and I will be perfectly humble and decentered with the click of a button, but I desire that state so that I may be closer and more intimate with the Lord. I await the day that whatever is hindering me of the ability to achieve kenosis vanishes. Maybe it will not be until I am face to face with my Creator; even then, I look forward to it.