Grow Your Servant’s Heart By Eating Humble Pie
Mmmm…I love pie.
I particularly like warm blueberry or apple pie with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream on the side.
Tasty desserts aside, there is one piece of pie I endeavor to serve myself on a regular basis to help me not only grow in my faith but also remind me of why I need to make service a healthy habit.
Humble pie.
Changing Up the Menu
When most of us think of eating humble pie, we think of it as being served to us.
And not in a good way.
Images of condemnation fill our brains and shame floods our hearts.
This is not good for anyone.
And it certainly is not what our Redeemer intended.
If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
John 12:47
We want our service efforts to be motivated by a joyful heart, not a guilty conscience.
Clearing Up Confusion: Practicing Humility Versus Eating Humble Pie
What if we have served before? Maybe lots of times! But…
And it’s a BIG BUT…
But, things did not quite go as we planned.
Sometimes our volunteer experiences do not go quite the way we thought they would or even should.
Maybe we build up the experiences beforehand in our minds of how wonderful helping others is going to be (because it is and can be), but we tend to forget that we are flawed humans working with other flawed humans helping other flawed humans in a chaotic world.
Personalities clash. Tempers flare. Discomforts abound.
Difficult circumstances become even more challenging with hidden hiccups and unexpected upsets throwing monkey wrenches into any sort of strategy we thought we had. (They are called tests and trials for a reason.)
We throw our hands up in frustration and decide this just isn’t for us. We tried, right?
Discouraged. We shy away from service.
What we really need is a good helping of “humble pie.”
Self-Serve
When most of us think of eating humble pie, we think of it in the context of someone serving it to us in a demeaning way to degrade or shame us.
But humiliation is not the same as humility.
We can choose to eat humble pie, not as a form of flagellation or self-punishment but as an act of complete and utter trust. As an act of surrender to God.
We say, “OK Lord here I am, use me as you will. No matter what comes my way, I am going to stay the course. I have a purpose. You have the plan. I trust you.”
I endeavor to keep “humble pie” on the menu to remind me to be the passenger in my life, not the driver.
The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Matthew 23:11-12
Coming Up
Join us for our next blog post in the It’s YOUR Serve series where we help you learn to talk back to fear through renewing your faith.
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Blessings,
Kimberly
IOH Mom
This website is not a professional counseling website and nothing here should be construed as professional counseling advice. Although Kimberly Bennett, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor, she is not your counselor, and no counselor-client relationship is established unless she has signed an agreement with you. All information provided through this website is for informational and educational purposes only. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure statement. Thanks for visiting!
