¨But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.¨ Matthew 23:11-12 (ASV)
A popular text and well-known, but probably today it is one of the most blatantly rejected passages of scripture we have. While we preach it or read it often and even share it with our brothers and sisters, we humans have a tendency to do just the opposite. In this modern age with all of our progress and refined wisdom, we have learned that the world around us can be adjusted to our liking.
Only a few generations ago people knew their limitations, the weather turned bad and suddenly there were things a human could not do. Diseases or war were more common and completely outside of our control and nearly everyone was affected by them. Nowadays we forget that there are things we do not control, or what it is like to suffer through them. We live our lives worrying about different problems.
Now the individual makes the decision about everything, ¨I like this, so I buy it!´ ´I like the thought of doing that, so I do it!¨ We make all things bow down to our own liking and disliking. The few limitations we have, like not having the money to do something, we push out of our conscious thought and make little of it. But all the rest of life´s decisions belong to us.
Right from a very young age we are taught, and learn that we can become or do or have anything we really set our hearts on. It can be yours as long as you want it bad enough. We teach it to our children with the hopes of helping them to succeed. But what we really are doing is making big of ourselves.
Today there is very little concept of servitude. Nobody seems to be teaching their children to humble themselves to others and to serve them. Who amongst us is willing to swallow our own aspirations to make room for those of others? A parent may agree to set aside their priorities for a time to care for their child, but more and more we seem to find a way to balance things so that our priorities are being met along with theirs.
So when Jesus tells us that the greatest is actually the one least concerned with him or herself, the words are strange to our ears. Our Savior tells us it is crucial to turn from the desires of our heart and to concern ourselves with the needs of others first. But this kind of concept is not taught any more. This kind of virtue we hold in theory only and stay far from it in practice because we are too busy making everything bow down to our wants and desires.
Dear Lord, please show us when and where we miss the point of humbling ourselves. We have grown to seek putting ourselves forward. Please teach us again what it means to serve other people. Show us how to notice the needs of others and then how to sacrifice our own time and effort to meet that need. Help us to learn to forget ourselves so that we will be there for those around us. Send us reminders often to show us this crucial teaching so that when You return, You will find some of us humbled and serving those around us.
In Your name we pray,
Amen
Searching For Christ 
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