june 2012
CityLight.org 35
B
efore we can talk about HUMILITY
we first must know DISCIPLINE.
Discipline is not liked but everyone admires
it. Discipline is something both great men
and women exhibit behind closed doors,
away from the admiring fans and cheering
crowds. Discipline is hard work done in
obscurity for the sake of excellence. And
I've noticed that disciplined people are al-
most always humble.
Discipline gives birth to great musicians
and artists (preachers, actors, dancers,
etc...). They put in many hours of practic-
ing, reading, studying and writing in their
craft. I do have a love for art and have ad-
mired a painter whose work has extended
for centuries. A great Italian painter named
Leonardo da Vinci, who desired nothing
less than perfection for his paintings, and
spent countless hours studying the human
body. He had become frustrated by his in-
ability to paint the body; therefore, he drew
a thousand hands until he felt it was just
right. I know you're saying by now, what
does art have to do with Humility. How
easy is it to forget that it's the discipline we
don't see that made this man the best. That
is worthy of admiration and respect.
However much discipline is needed for
both the arts and godliness, there is a
marked difference between the two. God-
liness has no public recognition in mind.
What's true of musicians and artists is all
the more true among the godly. If you have
known an individual whom you respect in
the faith, a person who has cultivated the
disciplines of godliness, you can be assured
that they paid dearly for his or her spiritual
depth. They spent hours of trying, failing,
and trying again; suffering through hard-
ship; learning to rely on God; yielding to
the spiritual disciplines because he or she
finds that life works better that way. Paul
encouraged Timothy, his protégé; "Disci-
pline yourself for the purpose of godliness"
(1Timothy 4:7).
For Humility forbids grandstanding. If
anyone else notices, it is incidental. We
pursue spiritual discipline for an audience
of One...Yeshua!
[For my determined purpose is] that I
may know Him----that I may progres-
sively become more deeply and intimately
acquainted with Him, perceiving and rec-
ognizing and understanding [the wonders
of His Person] more strongly and more
Continued on page 36
HUMILITY is
BOWING LOW
b
y
b
onita
b
ritt
HUMILITY is
BOWING LOW
b
y
b
onita
b
ritt