Learning To Admit That I Need Help

In review of James 4:6 it says, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

Bottom Line:

God gives grace and strength generously, however, He opposes the proud, while showing favor to the humble.

What this means to me:

God will provide his grace and strength in generous amounts to me, however, he will oppose me if I get too proud or haughty. When I’m humble, he will show his grace and favor.

In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he explains the choices that will help me heal from my own hurts and hang-ups, and the habits that mess up my life. The first Beatitude, Matthew 5:3, says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (NIV).

To be “poor in spirit” means that I can not get into Heaven if I’m full of pride. I get there only by grace. To be poor in spirit, I must humbly admit that I need help.

Jesus said, “The truth will set you free.” I’ve got to face the truth about myself and stop living in denial. This is called a reality choice.

However, I may not always like the truth. Its easy to love the truth about everybody else, I just don’t care for the truth about myself. It’s a lot safer to avoid the truth because it is painful to face. Truth will set me free, but first it may make me miserable when I realize what requires changing.

The good news is my habits, hurts and hang-ups can be healed. The bad news is it takes humility. I’ve got to humble myself and swallow my pride. James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (NIV).

There are some facts that I need to admit about myself to allow God to bless my life, and the first is: I’m broken. I live in a broken world where nothing works perfectly. The economy doesn’t work perfectly, my relationships don’t work perfectly, and my body certainly doesn't work perfectly.

Secondly, everybody’s confused today. They don’t know what they’re supposed to be or what they’re supposed to do. We’ve confused attitudes, attractions, and addictions. Even our identities are confused.

Yet, all I have to be, is myself. But this includes the understanding that I’m broken! And that’s OK, because once I make the choice to admit it, I’m on the path to humility, which leads to grace.

God’s grace will cover my brokenness, hurts, habits, and hang-ups. And that’s good news!

God can use my brokenness and my admittance of it. It can serve as an example to others of what Christ can do, when you make him the lead of your life. I feel God calling me to reach out to others and share what he is doing in my life and how things are better when I allow him to be in the drivers seat.