Devotionals for the Heart: Humility

The Road to Humility
A devotional by Cherie Mendez

“Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than to pretend to be somebody and have no food.”—Proverbs 12:9 (NIV)

I love how King Solomon glorified the virtue of humility as stated in the verse above. His contrast here is both humorous and profound. He is saying it’s better to be humble if your humility is part of your success as opposed to trying to “appear successful.”

Every week I sit down to create content for Instagram. However, when life gets tough I want to hide. If I have nothing “impressive” to post then I’d rather not post at all. In today’s image-obsessed society, cultivating a humble heart can be very challenging. The world puts great emphasis on “the pride of life” which is thinking you are special because of what you have, what you know, and what you look like. It glorifies the rich and famous while the poor are often forgotten.

The pride of life also tempts us to focus on ourselves as opposed to focusing on God and serving others. It can create stress and anxiety because when we seek to be the best and don’t succeed, our desire to excel can turn against us. If we fail, it is very normal to become disappointed. But the pride of life can turn our disappointment into a sense of hopeless depression.

The road to humility doesn’t have to be a hard one. If we humble ourselves before God and admit that we need His guidance, He is faithful. Psalm 25:9 (RSV), says “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way.”

When we stand before God, we will not be judged by our worldly accomplishments. All that will matter is what we did with the gifts and talents He gave us. It’s great to be successful, but if our success becomes our identity, then it’s an idol.

The temptation to be proud is very subtle. We see it in the Garden of Eden. Eve’s mistake was to setting her sights on what God had commanded not to do rather than on what God had blessed her with such as all the other trees filled with life-giving fruit that He had allowed her to eat.

Here are three questions we can ask ourselves to help keep our hearts in check:

Question #1: Am I truly thankful for all God has given me?

Question #2: Have I acknowledged Him as the Source of all the blessings in my life?

Question #3: Am I careful to seek God daily on how to live a life that is pleasing to Him?

It’s amazing how being humble frees you from the need to impress people. There’s no need to be perfect or compare yourself to anyone. This brings me back to my constant challenge with Instagram. With every post I’m learning to ask myself, “What can I share today that will minister to someone?”

Most of the time it’s the trials and the things I don’t like to talk about that resonate most with people. It’s about taking my captions from a “me” post to a “we” post, showing gratitude to the Lord and the people in my life. It’s about my choosing to encourage others when it’s tempting to brag.

I believe that Micah 6:8 (RSV) says it best: “…and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?” 

What will you choose today?

Song of Reflection: “King of Humility” by Justin Tweito. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio:

Cherie Mendez is a New York-based actress and model. Network appearances include Blue Bloods and Bull (CBS), Power (STARZ), and Hunters (Amazon). 

She got her start in modeling at the age of 18 when she was offered a contract to work with an agency in Paris. Over time, she worked for clients such as Mary Kay Cosmetics, Clarins Skincare, Garnier, Lancôme, and Wella.

In recent years, Cherie has been sharing about her faith in God on Instagram where she has an audience of over 30k followers. She is compelled by love to encourage women to understand their identity in Jesus Christ.

It is her goal to bring to light what God’s Word says about our self-worth. She does this by sharing encouraging stories on how she overcame the many struggles that models and actresses typically face.

Some of the topics Cherie loves to write about are:

· Coping with rejection

· Finding your purpose and using your talent for God’s glory

· How God always looks at the heart and the meaning of inner beauty

· Understanding that we are all a work in progress and God is not done with us yet

Cherie and her husband Jimmy live in Upstate New York. They are thankful to have been married for 30 years.

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Connect with Cherie:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheriemendez/