The heart of humility and wisdom is a heart for others

“A new command I give you,” said Jesus, “Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  (John 13:34-35)

So thick with meaning, so multifaceted, so incredible in its depth, this couplet of verses, along with the couplet of verses in Psalm 139:23-24, are enough of God’s Word, if nestled in the heart, to live the whole of life from.  Four verses.

For the sake of completeness, a helpful paraphrase of Psalm 139:23-24 I’ve found is a useful discipleship prayer: 

“Search me, God, and show me my heart,
test me and show me when and why I’m anxious.
Reveal to me every time I offend,
and from my confession and repentance,
lead me in your way everlasting.”

The heart of humility and wisdom is a heart for others.  That’s what these two couplets of verses are saying.  It takes humility, which is replete with wisdom, to love others as Jesus has loved us.

There’s no question that Jesus loved with truth, even as he loved those who were malevolent with the truth — those who pursued him to his death on the cross.  He spoke that truth in love, in the love of accountability, to draw a person to repentance.

Love is not just about having nice things to say.  Love is having the courage to speak the truth for the other person’s betterment.  But we must first be speaking the truth.  It is an absurdity for a person to say they’re speaking truth and yet to be gaslighting, for instance.

Just as much, Jesus has empowered each of us to hold ourselves to account.  Shudder at the thought, you might think!  It’s the way it’s always been.  Those who LIVE the prayer of Psalm 139:23-24 carry about within them the constant reflection — bearing it in their heart and keeping it close to mind — of whether they’re “loving one another” or not.  Humility is the shape of this wisdom.

So much of Matthew chapter 7 is incredibly instructive in this regard, particularly poignant is getting the log out of our own eye — staying in our own stuff.

Indeed, in mental health terms this concept is called “IN-SIGHT,” meaning the degree to which a person has “sight in” to themselves.  How much we can truly see about ourselves from within that nobody else but God can know, i.e., our true mental health, as well as being truthful with ourselves about the impact we have on others, in other words, the totality of our experience.

There is no more fundamental or empowering tool 
for each of us than to be fully aware, i.e., fully truthful.

That ability of sight in and of ourselves.  To see ourselves truly and to face that reality, whatever it is, to see and accept every failure and frailty, to not be ruled by anxiety and shame; this is the mark of humility.

There is NOTHING more important 
in discipleship to Jesus than this.

It is a heart motivated to acknowledge truth.
It is a mind convicted to live for truth.

To be able to see and to own our role 
in how we impact others 
is the most important gift 
we can bring to our world.

One thing we will need to be aware of, however, is there are people in our lives that will take advantage of our insight and seek to swindle us of the gift we offer.  They will seek to draw out of us more acceptance of wrong and repentance of same.  We will be targets of gaslighters.  We need to be innocent as doves, wise as serpents, particularly with these, knowing our insight is enough.  But having said this, humility is even a gift to the self, where we may own more than our own contribution, not feel more shame than we ought, and still have the grace to hope for reconciliation.  And this gift does not in my experience backfire on us.  God is faithful.

The heart of humility and wisdom is a heart for others, and paradoxically, by living this out, it is also a heart for ourselves and God because we’re constantly reorienting our heart and mind back to truth.

IN-SIGHT is the greatest asset any of us can have as we live a life of humility and wisdom.