WF Pride
Focus on Unity and Humility
Michelle Mei
If I ask a room full of people what they believe “humility” means, the usual answers will likely be “not boastful”, “don’t need recognition”, “let others shines” etc. These are all pretty good answers … you might be interested in knowing that accordingly to a Forbes article, we have nearly 25 million workers who come to work and are actively disengaged, and this is costing our economy up to $400 million/year. In my years of practice in the areas of people and culture development, I observed that the biggest factor that disengages employees from their day to day work comes down to relationships with one another. When I look at our core value “Unity & Humility” I know that this is a relationship core value; if we can strive and achieve that, we would be well above the norm. So in the preparation process for the Word of the Week “Unity & Humility”. I asked the Lord to show me what “humility” means. In faith, here is what I have received.
John 12:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (How appropriate that He have given me a verse about seeds!) The most obvious feature of a seed is its outer shell. Seeds generally have an outer shell to carry the embryo, and protect it from its environment. When conditions are right the seed draws in moisture, and breaks open this shell. Having serve its purpose, the shell is discarded. Humility is more than sequences of our acts, it is the condition of our heart in us. Just like seeds, we are wired to protect ourselves from our environment factors; and in the workplace those environment factors are the emotions and feelings come from how we interact with one another. Sometime we are so eager to protect ourselves that we neglect the potential of multitude if our “outer shell” could die and fall away, therefore starts the process of personal growth.
Let me start by describing what “humility” isn’t. When we are offended by others, justified OR not, we are not of humility; during those moments, our emotions work together to protect our feelings and pride, and therefore producing a set of undesirable attitudes, sometime oblivious to the sender, depending on their level of pride. When we judge others, whether it be big or small, we are not of humility because we tuned our attention onto the speck in others’ eyes and forgot the log that is in our own eyes. Then we justify our actions by saying “because they did this” and “because they did that”, we are refusing the process of growth. I have a wise coach who sternly told me recently that he did not care whether others’ actions are right or wrong in the situation that I was dealing with, it is about how I handle the situation and my emotions when responding. As much as I hate hearing it, he was forcing me to grow. If I don’t lay down my pride, I would miss a costly opportunity to grow.
We stand in our ways of growth. We refused to shed this outer layer and unleash our potential to drive a great harvest. Humility is love. Love for others because it is not our place to judge, that it is God’s. We must stop trying to do His job. When we try to do God’s job, no doubt we fail, we have not given the position to do so; sadly at the same time we have forgotten to tend to our own fields and the harvest in our lives and in our work. I dare to urge you to shed your “outer layers”. Stay engaged with every moment, take inventory of your every thoughts and actions; are you acting in love? If not, know that we all have fallen short of perfection, but in God’s mercy and love we have the opportunity to do it again. In an environment where humility are of love for one another, unity begins.
Dear Father, we thank you for your son Jesus, who had died a criminal death without uttering a word of rebellion; and that is the ultimate act of humility, and He did so for the infinite love He has for us. While we are fallen short of perfection, we are so thankful that we can receive Jesus as our Savior. I pray that our fellow brothers and sisters will make the important decision of inviting Jesus into their lives as Savior and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:5 for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those live according to the Spirt set their minds on the things of the Spirit. I pray that you teach each one of us how to love like Jesus.