http://bible.org/seriespage/humility
The modern notion of the “self-made” man, pulling himself up by his own bootstraps and, by the sweat of his own brow, climbing to the pinnacle of success is so deeply imbedded in our consciousness that any other possibility seems foreign. It’s humbling to recognize that God is more responsible for the achievements of our lives than we are, that we are people who have been given our abilities, time and opportunities. These things are not our possession; they are gifts from God and we will ultimately give an account for what we do with what we have been given.
Everything in us strains against this notion, for to accept this as fact is to be humbled. And humility naturally leads to submission. That’s really the issue, isn’t it? We don’t want to admit that God is the giver of every good gift, because that would mean that we have to yield to his agenda. Humility, submission and obedience go together.
“humility naturally leads to submission.” If we admit that God is the giver of every good gift, then we would have to yield to his agenda.
That’s the part that I take exception to. This may be a generational or cultural thing, but I think there are wide swathes of people who would think nothing of accepting these “good gifts” without incurring the sense of obligation, submission, and obedience that the author thinks just naturally follows. We have a generation without reciprocity. And so without the obligation, submission does not follow. Instead, obedience is a “free” choice instead of an obligated one.