Humility Leads to Contentment

“I don’t mean to say I am perfect.  I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be.  No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be.” Philippians 3:12-13 

When Paul wrote this Scripture, he was an older man in prison in Rome. He was near the end of his life, a mature person. Yet he said he hadn’t arrived. He was still growing and learning. His life’s experiences did not take him to a finish line, though I am sure he learned much from them. And he continued to grow toward “being all Christ wants me to be”. 

I can relate to this scripture so much. As a teacher, I have always prided myself on being a lifelong learner. I love to read, take classes and participate in Bible Studies, learn from others, set personal goals for physical, emotional, and intellectual growth. I take pride in striving to learn from life and “be better”. 

In 2019, I suffered a cardiac arrest from a medicine I was taking for heart failure. I was dead for a total of 35 minutes. Expert care from Steve, LFR, CHI staff and later Tabitha Rehab all helped to save and restore me. A lot of hard work from me also went into that, which I was glad to put forth. I am to this day beyond blessed, thankful, and grateful! God was beyond good to me. My brain was not damaged, but part of my colon died instead, which is not much of a problem at all for me, since the initial surgery. The word miracle has been used often by family and friends and even by medical staff. 

Since that time in my life, I have tried to nurture a grateful heart daily, which I do some days better than others. I feel I need to continue to grow physically and be all that I can be. I want to give back by continuing to learn and grow in every way I can. I want to be more helpful and kind to others daily. I don’t think of a finish line or an end goal but just a lifelong choice, a purpose. Being prideful is not helpful to me but instead I always know I can do better. I need to pray for direction and guidance. 

We should do regular checkups on ourselves and our lives to see where we can improve, or what we need to work on. “Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in your faith…give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence…that Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it.” (2 Corinthians 13:5-9). This requires humility, which will lead to better inner feelings about ourselves and our lives. 

Prayer: Father God, thank you for all you have given me. Help me be worthy of all those gifts daily by continuing to guide me toward a life pleasing to you. I want to be humbly grateful and thankful daily.

Connie Barry