Love, Detachment & Humility

August 14, 2015

Love, Detachment & Humility

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

St. Teresa of Avila taught her disciples that the practice of three Christian virtues enables the followers of Jesus to possess his wonderful peace that passes understanding. These virtues are love for one another, detachment & humility.

When I first read St. Teresa’s meditation the words of a hymn flooded my mind,

“Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee;

Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love;

Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King;

Take my will and make it thine; it shall be no longer mine.”

(Take My Life And Let It Be, Frances R. Havergal, 1874)

However, those words need to move from hymn to prayer if they are to help me obtain these illusive virtues.

I know I have a very difficult time saying the word, “no.” The cause has more to do with not having mastered the virtues of detachment and humility than with having a servant’s heart. St. Teresa’s counsel to her disciples is much needed in my camp:

“Lord, help me to fulfill the job you have given to me to do,

and not take on that which you have entrusted to another.”

Amen!

Lord, today may my life be an expression of worship by this, your unique creation you call your friend!

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.