Humility/Submission

I live in a neighborhood called North Lawndale which is located on the west side of Chicago. I often bike or walk to work which is only a ½ mile down the street so it only takes a few minutes. I often walk by drug dealers or gang bangers who externally work hard at looking “hard” and “acting” confident. I see them all the time and it breaks my heart that the world has influenced these individuals to walk around this way and put on this act all day every day to feel important and to feel like they have some form of power.

Now I will take a trip in my mind back to high school when I myself use to walk the halls of school every Friday in the fall with my football jersey on, which was our team’s tradition, and strut myself around school. I had this feeling of importance and power because of my role on the football team or being a part of a group that was glamorized, or because I read my name in the local paper the day after a games. Well, I guess I should specify that I occasionally read my name in the local paper the day after the game. Nevertheless, I hope you see my point of how we oftentimes do certain things, cling to certain groups, or act a certain way to feel important or powerful.

As I have gained a few years in my life and have observed people I greatly respect and have studied the Word about how we gain our significance, my mind has been “renewed” to how we really become powerful and become important. I have always been attracted to Jesus’ humility and submission to His Father’s will. I have come to learn that through submitting to my heavenly Father and constantly remain in a spirit of humility, as Jesus did, I have an overwhelming sense of fullness and confidence that I really can’t describe in words. When I keep this focus, the confidence is just there.

I think of so many situations in life call for me to submit to maintain the fullness and the sense of empowerment that comes only through the Holy Spirit. One of my main goals is to be fully alive through the Holy Spirit that dwells in me. Think on that, the Holy Spirit dwells in you if you are a follower of Jesus. We just have to be in step with that Spirit and mindful of when our flesh gets in the way so that the Spirit can redirect our paths to the Father's will.