Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
Everything you have learned, you have learned through humility. As a child, you humbled yourself to listen to your mother's instruction, and so, learned to tie your shoes. As a young student in school, you humbled yourself to your teachers, and you learned to add and subtract. All learning is the result of humbling ourselves to someone who knows more than do we. For this reason, Solomon counseled his young children to stay humble and to love instruction, for the way to eternal life has to be learned.
God sends us instructions through many different avenues. He will use sinners to rebuke saints, just to see if the saints have become proud of their status in God's kingdom. He will use children to instruct their elders to see if their elders' hearts are still willing to listen and to learn. He has, at different times, used a donkey to rebuke a prophet and a rooster to condemn a disciple of Christ. Both Jesus and Solomon (and many other wise men) were made wiser by humbly observing nature, from watching the birds, the ants, the flowers God created, or considering the clouds, the sun, or the rain.
But pride inhibits learning. A proud man is a dead man. To the humble man, "the heavens declare the glory of God", but to the proud man, the heavens say nothing.
It was this wisdom that moved Uncle Joe to say during his testimony that "we had better be willing to receive rebuke from anybody at any time." This wise elder had been corrected during that previous week by a fellow worker on the job for what amounted to a minor fault; still, he was grateful for it. If any correction comes, it is sent from God. The instrument He chooses to use is irrelevant. What matters is this: Are we humble enough to receive the correction that God sends? We will be, if we remember these wise words that Uncle Joe also spoke during his testimony that long-ago Sunday afternoon: "The man who tells you the truth is your friend."