We hope you enjoy this re-post from January 27, 2013. Be blessed! The Today’s Quote From God Team

Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and [He will exalt you He will lift you up and make your lives significant]. – James 4:10, Amplified Bible

Robert Townsend published his book Up the Organization in 1970. In the early 1960s, Townsend became CEO of Avis Rent-A-Car, a then young car rental company that had never turned a profit. By the time Townsend left the helm in the mid-1960s, Avis was a credible force in the industry. Up the Organization identifies several truths that guided the decisions behind Avis’ turnaround, one of which was the following:

Money…If sought directly, it’s almost never gained. It must come as a byproduct of some worthwhile effort.

Many of the things we want out of life are just like money. If you search directly for them, they elude you. If you focus intently on something else, they come to you naturally. Significance is one such thing. Every one of us wants to be significant, to do something worthwhile, to simply matter. But rarely will we achieve significance unless we seek its exact opposite, humility.

God teaches us that humility is the predecessor of significance (James 4:10), but pride cometh before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). It was only after he became humble in the land of Midian that Moses became God’s friend, God’s servant, and God’s messenger. It was only after Peter could see his own weakness in denying Christ that he could become the leader of the church in Christ’s absence. It was only after being shown he was a murderer and a self-righteous bigot that Paul could be used of God to reach the Gentiles. And it will be only after we realize that we have no power of our own to do anything lasting for Christ that He will then use us mightily for His everlasting glory.

If you want to be significant, stop trying to be. Seek to be humble; seek to engage in some worthwhile effort that glorifies God and not yourself. If you do so, God will lift you up, and you will become significant not because of who you are but because God can show Himself through you.

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