Humility is something that we all need more of…. and the one thing that we all fear the most is being humiliated right?  These are the worst moments in our lives… they can scar us forever… they hurt, we wonder why, and ultimately they do change us for better or for worse.  What you learn from these moment truly does depend on your ability to think outside of yourself and realize that even in the midst of the moment you are a child of God and He loves just as much in the middle of humiliation as he ever did in your triumph.  Think about it, Christ goes to a cross and is humbled for our sins…. do you think that God ever stopped loving His son… NO… he just knew he couldn’t intervene for the sake of humanity.  In our cases, we’re not going to a cross for the sins of the world, but often times we need these moments to help reshape our character. Case and point:

Jfest.com is an awesome festival that Building429 has been blessed to play through the years… this year was an anticipated event for all of the guys in the band.  We got there and the crowd was about 10,000 strong and we were all super amped about the show.  We cranked off the first song and about halfway through it my laces on my boots got caught and I took one of the most ridiculous falls that I have ever had in my life.  10,000 people watched my hat fly one way, my sunglasses fly another, and my microphone almost fly off the stage… not to mention that all of my friends were side stage laughing out loud as well.  (Kutless, Chris August).  I’ve never been so sure that I looked like a complete idiot in my life.  The next song we had to play had this major lyric “One foot in front of the the other” HAHAHAHA.  I handled it well, and laughed it off, but I would be lying if I told you that it didn’t frustrate me a bit.  I came off stage and sat in the trailer and tried to figure out what the heck just happened.  That’s when it occurred to me that you learn from every humbling moment in your life.  EVERY SINGLE ONE.

I can vividly remember falling in the lake at the state fair in Texas when I was a child and having to ride home soaking wet with moss all over me 2 hours back to our home town with everyone in the car laughing the whole way… guess what I don’t do any more??? I don’t try to jump across LAKES.

The truth is that whether you are humiliated or humbled is just a character issue for you.  Think about it… to be humbled isn’t that big a deal right???  To be humiliated is a HUGE deal.  They are the exact same thing, but different only because of the way you choose to view them.  When you are the center of the world and it’s all about you a humbling moment tends to be HUMILIATING….   When God is the center of the world and your identity is in him, these moments are just HUMBLING. The challenge of being humbled is letting your character shine through in the midst of the mess.  You will earn respect from those who are laughing based on your response to the moment.  Or you will LOSE all respect and never regain it if you act like more of an idiot when you lose control and go on a rant because you feel humiliated.  Half of life is learning to stop taking yourself so seriously…. freedom comes with that.  I promise.  Freedom came to my life when I was able to laugh at myself.

Humbling moments are good for you… they remind you how small you are.  They check you when you get out of alignment with Gods will, and sometimes they just happen and there’s nothing you can do about it.  If you’re not very mature you will throw a fit and everyone around you will say (under their breath) “They needed that”, and if you are mature and can handle it well everyone will say “Wow what an awesome way to handle that”.  The choice is yours, but I’ve tried it both ways and I assure you that the latter is the only way gain respect whilst you’re at your lowest.  So GET UP. Laugh at yourself… and remember that anytime that we are humbled is a moment that brings us closer to God.