\u201cSo have I missed anything during my Twitter vacation?\u201d I once asked my husband, half joking, half serious. Every January, I take an annual social media break. Whatever I call this\u2014a fast, a disappearance, a protest, a spiritual practice, an act of self-care\u2014I\u2019m always astonished how the break makes my world feel quieter. It\u2019s sobering to notice how I\u2019m being shaped by the constant noise of life online. And I wonder how Jesus might be calling all of us to a better, humbler way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You don\u2019t have to scroll far on social media to see the human tendency to posture with pride. I see it when I ask a question and I\u2019m already planning what to say next. I see it when my love for a person cools because I don\u2019t like their behavior online. I see it when we slip into performative debates for the cultural currency of likes and comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul had quite a bit to say on the subject of humility. He wrote, \u201cConsider others as more important than yourselves\u201d (Philippians 2:3), before drawing comparisons to Jesus Himself in verses 5\u20137. If this tempts you to empty yourself into silence or challenges your natural fighter instinct, please know this isn\u2019t an invitation to be passive. Jesus was a man who frequently challenged power, debating religious leaders and touching the unclean and defending the dignity of people on the margins of life. So, no, humility isn\u2019t about shrinking into invisibility\u2014there are certainly things worth fighting for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps humility is more of a posture. And if humility is our posture and Christ is our example, then we can walk in love. We can know how to respond when we come up against the messiness of the world, acting from a place of love and security rather than reacting. We can learn how to be still, when to sit and listen. We can know what actions to take against the darkness. We can honor each other\u2019s humanity, acknowledging that even the corrupt and the cruel are loved by a God who grieves for them, who longs to lead them out of the darkness and welcome them as sons and daughters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In life online and off, what would it look like to look out for the interests of others before my own? How might we learn to consider others with more importance, even when we disagree? What kinds of questions ought we learn to ask before we speak? And how will it empower us to know when our words really matter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Questions like these might help to foster humility. And no doubt, we need the help because humility is a hard way. But it\u2019s also one we don\u2019t have to walk alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cSo have I missed anything during my Twitter vacation?\u201d I once asked my husband, half joking, half serious. Every January, I take an annual social media break. Whatever I call this\u2014a fast, a disappearance, a protest, a spiritual practice, an act of self-care\u2014I\u2019m always astonished how the break makes my world feel quieter. It\u2019s sobering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":71279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[289],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philippiansandcolossians"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"related_plans":[71272],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#SheReadsTruth","devotional_text":"CHRISTIAN HUMILITY<\/b>
\r\nby Jen Yokel<\/i>
\r\n
\u201cSo have I missed anything during my Twitter vacation?\u201d I once asked my husband, half joking, half serious. Every January, I take an annual social media break. Whatever I call this\u2014a fast, a disappearance, a protest, a spiritual practice, an act of self-care\u2014I\u2019m always astonished how the break makes my world feel quieter. It\u2019s sobering to notice how I\u2019m being shaped by the constant noise of life online. And I wonder how Jesus might be calling all of us to a better, humbler way.<\/p>
\r\n
You don\u2019t have to scroll far on social media to see the human tendency to posture with pride. I see it when I ask a question and I\u2019m already planning what to say next. I see it when my love for a person cools because I don\u2019t like their behavior online. I see it when we slip into performative debates for the cultural currency of likes and comments.<\/p>
\r\n
In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul had quite a bit to say on the subject of humility. He wrote, \u201cConsider others as more important than yourselves\u201d (Philippians 2:3), before drawing comparisons to Jesus Himself in verses 5\u20137. If this tempts you to empty yourself into silence or challenges your natural fighter instinct, please know this isn\u2019t an invitation to be passive. Jesus was a man who frequently challenged power, debating religious leaders and touching the unclean and defending the dignity of people on the margins of life. So, no, humility isn\u2019t about shrinking into invisibility\u2014there are certainly things worth fighting for.<\/p>
\r\n
Perhaps humility is more of a posture. And if humility is our posture and Christ is our example, then we can walk in love. We can know how to respond when we come up against the messiness of the world, acting from a place of love and security rather than reacting. We can learn how to be still, when to sit and listen. We can know what actions to take against the darkness. We can honor each other\u2019s humanity, acknowledging that even the corrupt and the cruel are loved by a God who grieves for them, who longs to lead them out of the darkness and welcome them as sons and daughters.<\/p>
\r\n
In life online and off, what would it look like to look out for the interests of others before my own? How might we learn to consider others with more importance, even when we disagree? What kinds of questions ought we learn to ask before we speak? And how will it empower us to know when our words really matter?<\/p>
\r\n
Questions like these might help to foster humility. And no doubt, we need the help because humility is a hard way. But it\u2019s also one we don\u2019t have to walk alone.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"4","scripture":"Philippians 1:27-30, Philippians 2:1-18, Psalm 133:1-3, 1 Corinthians 1:10","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}