Kelly - Lk 7

vv. 1-10
The powerful centurion stops Jesus from coming to his home with the words "I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you...." (v. 6-7) and Jesus ends the story with "not even in Israel have I found such faith."

What is the relationship between humility and faith? We claim that "we are bold" to come into Christ's presence - and we are invited to come - but I must admit that humility is a bit of a foreign land to me. I've lived a life where I'm relatively well-respected by those I meet, I successfully play the charade of "fitting in" to the upper middle class, I'm well educated, and have had career successes. Throw into that mix that I live in a culture where we are supposed to constantly prove our own worth - make our own way - and "sell ourselves" to potential clients or employers - - I don't have much experience learning to be humble.

Almost 3 years ago I stepped away from a career and entered the world of stay-at-home mommydom. While I've qualified that by a few odd jobs and getting more education....I've mostly been mom. And in this culture, it's my first real experience with humility. It's not an esteemed position (and yes, I've heard and believe all about the role's importance), and it can be hard in a day-to-day situation to stand straight at my husband's side at a company event and admit I have no career (in this world, no identity?) of my own.

I don't claim that my pseudo-experiences with humility have done much for my faith -- but they have shown me how very far I am from true humility. I really want to think well of myself, and struggle when that isn't easy. So if I have never really known humility, before others or before God, what aspects of faith am I missing? I am bold to come before God -- and I think I need to be more aware of that boldness, more appreciative of God's greatness, and try to remember that I am a creature before the Creator.