WOMEN OF HUMILITY AND BOLDNESS!

Humility doesn't mean weakness. I was reminded of this truth while reading one of my favorite people in the Bible. He had an awesome assignment.

John the Baptist's job was to prepare the way for Jesus’ ministry. He came before Jesus, telling people to make their hearts right, because finally...the Savior of the world was arriving.

However, John was different. He definitely stood out. Imagine with me,  a man wearing clothes that were made from camel’s hair, and his bottoms held up by a leather belt around his waist.

He came around eating, not fish, but locusts and wild honey. His home life was the wilderness. Yeah, I told you he was different.

PREPARE YOUR HEART!

However, John's message was significant and even prophesied about years earlier (Isaiah 40:3). Many people saw the truth in what He proclaimed. So, they were getting baptized by John, confessing their sins in the river.

This man was preaching repentance, something we still need to hear today! 

So far so good, right?

Well, things go south when the religious people show up. The Pharisees and Sadducees see something that looks religious and holy. They want to join. But, then we get to see the holy boldness of John.

Can you imagine watching him call the religious men “Brood of vipers?”

TRUE REPENTANCE HAS FRUIT!

Vipers are a venomous snake! John immediately saw through their masks. He told them, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”

Those who truly heard John’s message were genuinely repenting of their sin, but these religious men were just speaking words.

We see John’s love for God in his reaction to them. He didn’t care about how not baptizing the leaders looked to the people around him. That is such a bold statement.

THE GOAL WAS FOR CHRIST!

Yet, his heart and motives were for Christ. He wanted people to turn to Him. And, John was okay with losing His life over it (which he ended up doing).

I don’t know about you, but I want a boldness like that. To not care about other people’s approval. To be more concerned with heaven's agenda that I could care less of the world’s.

I want to be all about telling people about what Christ has done. That He is the Savior!

Though John was very bold, he was also humble. Later, the Jesus he was proclaiming actually walked down the streets. Jesus came to John (the baptizer) to be baptized, but John tried to stop Jesus from making him do that.

John couldn’t imagine baptizing someone like Jesus! John felt Jesus needed to baptize him.

PREPARED FOR THE ASSIGNMENT!

We see that John understands Christ’s authority. He was humble, in recognizing he wasn’t even worthy to tie Jesus' shoes. Yet, Jesus told John to baptize him anyway. John’s entire ministry was Christ-centered.

In fact, when John’s followers saw Jesus for the first time, John called Jesus out and John’s followers started following Jesus. He didn’t care about losing them. 

That was what he was born for. His assignment was preparing the way. It was for pointing people to the Savior.

WOMEN OF HUMILITY AND BOLDNESS!

So it is for us. It might not look like John’s way of life, sister. I can for sure tell you, I won’t be eating locust or calling people vipers, but I strongly desire to have humility and boldness for Christ. 

 To say, “I stand for Jesus unapologetically, and though I don’t deserve anything but hell, He has called me His own and I want to live my life telling people about Him!”

Let’s be women seeking both humility and boldness while being intentional about the purposes of God. The spiritual things far outweigh the worldly things, but we can so easily forget.

WALK WITH INTENTION!

Unlike John, our minds consider the losses we might have over the Gospel and what that might mean when it comes to our relationships.

We might lose followers or friends. We might have to have hard conversations, and instead of facing them, we may be tempted to just float around.. Christians don’t float sister; We walk with intention! 

God will give us humble hearts if we ask, ones that lead others to Him. Let’s also pray for the boldness required to serve God rightly.

To not be afraid when it is time to speak up. To love God so much that it doesn’t matter the cost of what it means in telling the truth.

IT'S ALL ABOUT JESUS! 

In the end, it is not about us! Not one bit! It is about our glorious Jesus and He is so worthy of all the attention and praise.

He loves his people and we were all chosen for Him (Ephesian 1:11). None of us were created in vain. No sis, not even you! So, choose to walk in humility and boldness for His glory.

-Lord, help us we pray. Amen.

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW