Mar. 31, 2008 - Interceding for Our Children
This week's prayer -
Father, cultivate in Littlesmurf the ability to have true humility before You and to show true humility before all people.
"to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men." Titus 3:2
"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, 'for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'" 1 Peter 5:5
My thoughts -
Being humble takes a lot of doing, particularly when you are young. First of all, you have to understand what humility actually is!
1. A disposition to be humble; a lack of false pride; "not everyone regards humility as a virtue".
2. A humble feeling; "he was filled with humility at the sight of the Pope".
Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
From this, I would have to explain and demonstrate to Littlesmurf, that being humble means not boasting about how good you are at a particular task and, more particularly, showing respect to one's elders (all adults, not just his parents!).
So far, I think he is managing to be respectful to his elders. He always speaks politely and addresses the parents of his friends by their full name ("Mr./Mrs So-and-so") until told that he may use their Christian names. When faced with a figure of authority, e.g., a minister, police officer, etc., he calls them "Sir" or "Madam" as the case may be.
He does sometimes have lapses where he is sometimes boastful about his abilities in certain subjects - this, I think, comes from the type of society we live in. Nowadays, young people are not seen as being "Cool" if they allow others to take the glory. However, Littlesmurf, is beginning to see that there are certain advantages to being humble - by showing respect towards others, he also gains their respect for himself; by not constantly "showing off", he is seen as being more mature in his behaviour.
