The River Church of New Jersey

I've heard this before, but I wanted to meditate more on it: the humble confidence that the gospel leaves no room for a "holier-than-thou" attitude (I'm paraphrasing here). We all hate it (and can pick it up instantly--the way a dog can pick up the scent of fear) when someone treats us in a condescending way. It can be through body language, a certain aloofness, an expression such as rolling of the eyes, or even direct comparisons between what we have and have-not. But are we as aware of how we treat people we deem to be beneath us--either socially, economically, or physically?

I recently went to visit my grandmother at a nursing home. This was the first time in awhile that I had even set foot into a nursing home. It was hard for me to check the flood of contrary feelings running through my mind. Shock, sadness, sympathy, depression and many other strong emotions raced through me as I tried hard to make my face as impassive and blank as possible. Why? Because I didn't want to show pity. But I had to constantly ask myself--who are you to pity them? I had to humble myself and realize that not only will I be old one day but that I need to treat them, even look at them, like I would anyone else.

And as for the "confidence" part of humble confidence: I don't want to be confident in anything else but the gospel because the worldly providers of confidence only puff up. And, like a soaring hot-air balloon, you look pretty and seem to coast above everyone else...but hit something as small as the point of a rock (the equivalent of a derogatory comment) and that balloon collapses and we come crashing back to reality. And nothing howls louder than the sound of wounded pride.

Hope you all have "soft landings" in the gospel.