"Humility" by CJ Mahaney

From time to time, I want to share with you some of the stuff that I am reading that is impacting my life. A man for who I have great respect and whom I have only discovered in the last few years is CJ Mahaney. I have several of his books, including Living The Cross-Centered Life and Why Small Groups? The book I'm currently reading is called Humility and it is a gem. Coming in at around 160 pages (& small ones at that), it is easily digestible and packs a powerful punch.

He begins by quoting Isaiah 66:2, and then contends, "Humility draws the gaze of our Sovereign God." Ponder that.

Here are some other great quotes...

"The real issue here is not if pride exists in your heart; it's where pride exists and how pride is being expressed in your life" (p. 29).

Quoting Charles Bridges, Mahaney perceptively says that pride "lifts up one's heart against God" and "contends for supremacy" with Him (p. 31). "Lord, in that moment, I was contending for supremacy with You. Tha'ts what it was all about. Forgive me."

In another section, Mahaney refers to the need to humbly accept sleep as a gift. He encourages us to pray at night, "Lord, thank You for this gift. The fact that I'm so tired is a reminder that the I am the creature and only You are the Creator. Only You neither slumber nor sleep, while for me, sleep is something I cannot go without. Thank You for this gracious, humbling, refreshing gift" (p. 84).

I'll have more to come from this book. I'd encourage all my friends to get this book and seek to learn to be more like Christ.