November 1, 2011
At EMB I spend a few minutes talking about humble pie. In case you don’t know, humility is the currency of relational redemption. It is humility that allows a grudge-holder to forgive, a trespasser to repent, and broken relationships to be healed. Think about it- do you really want to be close to someone who is prideful, arrogant, entitled and/or self-righteous? No way. We want to distance ourselves from people like that. If we are to draw people close to us we must assume a humble posture. That is true whether you apply it to friends, kids, spouses or mentors. If we’ve damaged one of these relationships we cannot will the other person to like us, forgive us or reconcile with us. We have to eat a large slice of humble pie and work towards being forgivable.
Too often I hear men lament that someone (usually their spouse) is required Biblically to forgive them, yet refuses to. Usually I’ll ask them if they’ve been forgivable. The answer to the question is evident in the very manner in which the guy answers: either in a humble, contrite emotional way or in a defensive, indignant, prideful way. If the latter, the issue becomes obvious.
If you are in the process of restoring broken relationships I hope you’ll have a large slice of humble pie. It is the currency with which you’ll make deposits into an entirely over-drafted account.
A friend from EMB, Steve, gave me this picture at the EMB 2.0 event. He said he was on a trip to Wales, saw the restaurant and took a pic as a reminder. Now it sits on my desk between a current picture of Shelley and I, and our wedding picture. It is a great reminder for me too.
Casting Crowns – Courageous
