“Be changed within by a new way of thinking. Do not think that you are better than you are. You must see yourself as you really are. Mind, not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.” (Romans 12:16.
Some of the most revered people in today’s society are actors. They are placed upon a pedestal and adored by the public. They are admired and given rewards for the roles they play. They are even referred to in the secular press as “American royalty.”
In contrast, the Bible tells the saints that we must be “real.” In order to be “real people,” we must allow God to mold our minds and attitudes. One of the qualities required by God of those who belong to Him is “lowliness of mind.” We resist this. We love it the other guy but do not like to consider ourselves as “men of low estate.” It seems even more difficult to condescend to men of low estate. In Jesus’ retinue there were no kings, no nobles. He turned the world upside down with His radical teaching—that in His kingdom, the greatest would be the least. In His remarks about John Baptist Jesus said that no greater man has ever lived, and yet the least child is greater than John in privilege. “Except ye be as little children, you cannot inherit the kingdom” (Mark 10:44).
There is great beauty in lowliness. Our human wisdom whispers it is degrading, but the spiritual man knows it is the pathway to greatness. Philippians tells us the Lord Christ made Himself of no reputation, humbled Himself and became obedient unto the death of the Cross. Striving for prominence and place over our brothers was never an option for the man of God. Remember the two who did, and the teaching of the Master. He stated, “It shall not be so among you.”
Wouldn’t it be wonderful, if by the grace of God, we could be this kind of people? A certain young man felt the call of God to ministry. He was sent to a place where the needs were great, the work boring and repetitious, and the rewards negligible. He was heard lamenting to a friend, “I never imagined when I surrendered to the ministry that it would be like this.” But it was in that very place where the lessons of ministry could be learned. We never graduate from being “one of the least” of God’s children.
Thoughts From the Garden 