One Little Word: Humility

This is yet another inspirational project that I stumbled upon online. The aim is for you to choose one little word that you would like to reflect on and focus on as you go about with your daily life in a given year. It is also in a way, related to any creative stuff you'd like to embark on. As for me, I have forced myself to do the Project Life memory keeping and to be a minimalist at that.

***

For my one little word for 2014, I had pondered and contemplated almost all month of January often asking God in prayer what that word should be. As I have been wanting to revive "writing/blogging" this year, I had initially chosen the word write. But God, in His own sweet timing and nudging, decided otherwise. To be honest, I am very much aware that I need to grow up in this area, I was just really too proud to admit it. See? You can pick up by now that my heart needs to grow in HUMILITY.

At this point, I would like to elaborate why I need to meditate on this area all year long. Oftentimes, it is my pride, my selfishness and my lack of trust in God that drive me in doing things, on why I do what I do. I have always been guilty of wanting to be in control, of having an entitlement mentality, of worrying and of being ungrateful. Much of these really stem from my lack of understanding of who I am in the light of who God is. Apart from Christ, I cannot do anything, I have nothing. Am I not just a steward of whatever talents and things I possess? Do I really need to acquire things just to feel secure and important?

It is my prayer that as I have chosen and written down this one little word, that I will be humbled in the truest sense of the word. That instead of demanding, I will gain a child-like faith (Matthew 18:3), depending on God and putting my security in Him alone. That in the process, I will learn to put the needs of others first before my own and in turn, build a more meaningful relationships around me.  That I will be content of what little materials things we have. That along the way, my gifts, however simple and lacking they are, will be used to inspire and to encourage others.

Humility doesn't necessarily mean I should stop nurturing big ambitions. It only means that my dreams and decisions should now revolve around the question of "are they pleasing to God and am I doing them for the right reasons and motives?"

As 1 Peter 5:3-4 put it:

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interest of the others."

My journey to learning humility will of course not be confined to a year, that's for sure. It will be a life-long journey. My desire is to be really intentional about it this year, to think of myself less and to put others first and foremost. Easier said than done, you would say and I will agree. But God's grace is always sufficient for us to try and to be better in this life. Until we become that someone He wants us to be, we should never stop trying. :)

What I want my 2014 to look like: To be filled with humility, to write, and to delight in life.