Manna Monday- Thinking Lowly of Yourself

I admit it. Sometimes I think too highly of myself. I don't mean to. But sometimes I do.
But I am not the only one who does it. You do it too.

What do I mean?
Sometimes I think I am living the Christian life like I should. I'm nice to others, giving, loving, helpful, prayerful,  etc. Sometimes I think I am doing the right things in life and even then, I am thinking highly of myself. At times, I am not even aware of this heart attitude. It's when I come to the LORD and read His Word that I am reminded that nothing good resides in me but Christ. The more I think lowly of myself, the more I see how glorious Jesus is and how wretched I am. Nothing good is in me except Christ. He is the ONLY good thing in me.

I have been praying through the prayers in the book Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. The one prayer I read and prayed recently has left a huge reminder that I am nothing.

A couple of the phrases in this prayer hit home to my heart:

"When my mind acts without thee it spins nothing but deceit and delusion;"

"When my affections act without thee nothing is seen but dead works." 

"for I am vile and selfish; yet I seek thee,"

 I circled the last part of the prayer: "to see my all in Thee. The entire last sentence of the prayer says:

"Grant that I may distrust myself, to see my all in thee."

This is my prayer. To not trust in my good works or in how good I am living the Christian life. To place all of my trust in the person of Jesus Christ continually. To see myself as nothing, to think lowly of myself.

Consider the following scriptures:

• Romans 12:16
• 1 Corinthians 10:12

When we think we are right..... we think highly of ourselves.

When we think we are better off than other people....we think highly of ourselves.

When we think we are strong and that nothing can shake us....we think highly of ourselves.

When we think we are a good person....we think highly of ourselves.

Instead of choosing to think highly about yourself, daily remind yourself that there is nothing good in you except Jesus Christ.