The Power of Change: Don’t Act Like You’ve Arrived
Why humility is essential for real spiritual growth.
Wisdom Scripture
Proverbs 11:2 (NIV)
2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.
Wisdom Quote
The wise were not the intelligentsia of Israelite society. As the Book of Proverbs makes clear, they were those whose lives were characterized by understanding, patience, diligence, trustworthiness, self-control, modesty, and similar virtues. In a word, the wise person was the God-fearing person. Wisdom lay not merely in a static attitude of reverence, but in the conscious development of the mind toward wisdom in the context of reverence.¹
Insights: Don’t Act Like You’ve Arrived
Are you working hard to grow your character? I hear the familiar pushback again: “But wait a minute—we can’t develop character just by human willpower. We do not work to earn God’s grace.” That is true. But remember, we work hard to become mature because God is at work in us.
Dallas Willard puts it this way: “Grace is opposed to earning, but it is not opposed to effort, because effort is action and earning is attitude.” Rightly understood, God’s grace inspires great effort.
The Apostle Paul describes his vigorous intention to the Philippians:
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
— Philippians 3:12–14
Paul begins with humble awareness: he has not arrived. If asked whether you have arrived in your character, I doubt you would say, “You bet—I’m totally there.” Yet your actions—or your inactions—may reveal that you are content with your current level of maturity.
Ask yourself: What steps am I actively taking to develop the character of Jesus?
Paul declares his passionate intent: “But I press on.” He pictures a runner who is so focused on the race that everything else fades away—the crowd, the other runners, the noise. Nothing exists but the lane ahead and the finish line.
Paul calls it “the one thing.” He was captivated by Jesus, and with single-minded focus, he set his sights on knowing Christ and living for Him.
One thing.
¹ Elwell, Walter A., and Barry J. Beitzel. “Wisdom, Wisdom Literature.” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, 1988, pp. 2149–2150.
