James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Everything we have was given to us. Our abilities and possessions did not come from us; they came from Him. Even the “self-made man” could never have made his place in life without the abilities God gave him. Sadly, “the self-made” lack the humility to acknowledge where their abilities came from. As believers, we must remember where our abilities come from. This is a call to humility. Without humility, you will never achieve your full potential. Humility recognizes its source.
The reason some greatly struggle to achieve their destiny is they are striving to achieve it.
There are reasons Jesus said we need to receive the Kingdom as a little child. One is a child recognizes his or her dependence on another. While we are called to maturity, we still need to maintain that childlike approach in relation to the things of God. We need a firm grasp on the knowledge that we are dependent on the Father for everything. Not only that, we must recognize the abilities, knowledge, wisdom and understanding are all things we receive. One might say, “I’ve studied the Bible a lot, and gained all this knowledge as a result.” Question: who gave you the desire to study in the first place? The scriptures are spiritually discerned (see 1 Corinthians 2:7-16), so how actually did you gain that knowledge? If you learned, then you learned from the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, God has a purpose for your learning, which leads to another question: what are you doing with your knowledge? Knowledge in itself can lead to pride (see 1 Corinthians 8:1-2). Did you obtain wisdom and understanding as well?
Keep in mind the moment we think we know a lot, pride is ready to make us ignorant.
We can easily move into being unteachable. How many “know-it-alls” have you been able to teach? Most new born believers are glad to receive instruction from more mature ones. It’s a wonderful experience to have mentors in our lives. The idea is to get new borns to rely on Jesus, and feed themselves. However, that doesn’t mean they stop learning from others as they become more mature. The Apostle Paul experienced difficulties with the church at Corinth. The people had become prideful, and that pride led to unrighteous behavior that needed correction. They actually disrespected the one whom the Lord used as their father in the faith (see 1 Corinthians 4:1-21). This same attitude has caused difficulties in churches where the people disrespected leadership. In some cases, churches have split as a result of people usurping authority out of pride. God does not wink at that. When people become un-submissive to God given authority, they are being un-submissive to God, Himself. If we have gained knowledge, it was intended to make us a blessing; not a thorn in someone’s side.
Most Christians start out well in terms of receiving the righteousness of Jesus. Where some struggle to achieve their destiny is they exchanged receiving by grace through faith for striving and works. Somehow, they shifted into a mindset that says they must earn their destiny. They have to be good, and do good. A lot of good! It’s the same struggle the Galatians had as the result of Judaizers seeking to place them back into bondage. Diligence is one thing; striving is quite another. Diligence points to stewarding the gifts God gave us; whereas, striving tries to earn those gifts. Humility empowers; pride disempowers. Humility recognizes God is our Source for all things, and glorifies Him as a result. Pride attempts to build its own kingdom and says, “look what I did.” Unless God builds a ministry, it’s built in vain. As it is written, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain” (Psalm 127:1).
Ironically, pride holds people back in that it says, “you’re never going to be good enough.” If you think it is possible to be good enough, you will be stuck the rest of your life trying to do just that.
The crazy thing is pride can actually make you look down on yourself. For those who don’t want to be diligent, it gives them an out: “I’ll never be good enough.” If you beat yourself up for not being “good as you should be,” or for not doing enough, you moved away from grace. Jesus is your righteousness (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). That means you’re more than good enough. God will get you to your destiny. You simply need to cooperate with Him. Receive what He gives you. Do what He asks of you (obedience), and you’ll get there. Just leave the method and timing to Him. You can stop beating yourself up now!
