The Humble Leader

Does your life reflect the humility of Christ?
Christ came to earth for many reasons, but one was in order to show us how we ought to live.

In John 13:1-17 Christ does something culturally crazy. He takes on the role of a slave. A slave during that period was considered as "Less than human". He does this by washing His disciples feet. 

Of all the things I would do for my friends to show them my love- That would probably not make it to the list.  In our day that's still considered pretty gross, but during Christ's time, feet were truly disgusting. I mean, if they were lucky enough to have shoes they wore sandals. Many went barefoot.

Come on, the thought of that weirds . me . slam . out! 

Christ showed His love and humility by taking on the role of a slave (culturally seen as less than human) in order to wash His disciples feet.

Here are a few of the ways He taught us humility: 

• The fact that the He was born in a manger not a castle = Humility
• He ate with the "culturally identified sinners". Not the wealthy, prominent, "In Crowd". = Humility
• He surrounded Himself with Fishermen and Tax Collectors= Humility
• He stopped in His tracks to Love the children= Humility
• He went out of His way to walk through the then "Ghetto" (Samaria) for a Divine Appointment = Humility
• Takes on the role of a Slave, in order to "practically" show the heart of a servant = Humility
• He doesn't just tell the disciples what they ought to be doing. He shows them by example!= Humility

But what blows my mind the most is

John 15:17-18
This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first."

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.
As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
That is why the world hates you.

He didn't just say this HE lived it!

Have you ever been hated? Have you ever had someone say things about you that were untrue? Have you had someone try to destroy your reputation? Have you ever been spat upon, cursed at, rejected?

When Christ washed the Disciples feet, He washed the feet of Judas.

Has your life ever been traded for coins?  He knew Judas's betrayal.  Yet, He took on the role of a slave on his behalf as well.

Dying on a cross would stink.  It might make it easier if at least the people you were dying for were grateful.

Nope. He was beaten beyond recognition. Spat upon, cursed at, His life was traded for cash by a personal friend.  He was brought to the cross and hung by a crowd cheering for his death in mockery.

In that moment a sinless Christ had the sins of the world placed on His shoulders. To die the death of His haters. 
So that His once haters wouldn't have to die that death themselves.

So yes. That's humility. Christ showed us the ultimate humility. 

Do you have Christ's love in you? Washing people's feet is awkward and gross. However, it's easier to wash the feet of the ones who love you; than it is to wash the feet of those who hate you.

So again I ask; Are you loving with the humility of Christ?

His Clay~

Note: This was a guest post for Evatt's Beautiful Mess :) I went back to publish it this way a few weeks later for a friend.  Thank you Lindsay for the opportunity to guest on your blog!