1 . All of us struggle for position and power and that should not surprise us. Every humanbeing longs for some recognition, prestige, authority, position, money, esteem and somephysical satisfaction. There is nothing wrong in these needs. They are quite legitimate.But men allow their hearts to be overtaken with selfishness and begin to want moreand more to the point of lusting and consuming and hoarding. They become prideful,covetous, worldly, ambitious, envious and hurtful even to the point of destroying andkilling.
2 . The reasons why the disciples asked the question• They sensed the Christ was about to set up His kingdom, that He was about toassume His throne, they were looking forward to become chiefs of stage in Hiskingdom• They had seen three of them honoured in special ways. This caused rivalry,jealousy, and envy among them.
3 . Christ gave a living demonstration of greatness. The child whom he called was notan infant, for he was personally called to come to Christ. The child trusted Christenough to respond and did what Christ requested (submission, humility and obedience)
4 . Another condition required to follow Christ is humility• The child had given up what it was doing. Whatever it was that was occupying itsthought and time, it walked straight to Christ.• The child obeyed Christ. Obedience always demands humility, a humbling ofoneself in order to whatever another asks.• The child overcame feelings it had in order to respond to Christ. It did not botherabout the twelve men surrounding Christ and did not hesitate to go near Christ.
5 . People fear humility. They feel that humility is a sign of weakness and cowardice. Theyfear humility will make them the object of contempt and abuse. They fear humility maycause them to be passed over, but the opposite is true. Humility leads a person to realizehis/her full potential. It leads to better and more healthy relationships and to a strongerand more productive community and world.
The line that divides between inferiority complex and superiority complex is very tricky.If you say I can do, people will brand you as a person with superiority complex and ifyou say I can’t they will brand you as a person with inferiority complex. The properself esteem lies somewhere in the middle (virtue lies in the middle). To teach this greatlesson Jesus employs the example of children who just do what they feel like withoutany inhibitions. The moment we act on situation without having any hidden agendas and manifest sensitivity towards others we naturally become humble persons. Humility is not just to say ‘I can’t, it is not to say ‘only I can’
Courtesy
The Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible
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