Thinking Little Of Yourself Is Not A Virtue!

“…Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the Tribes of Israel?”  (1 Samuel 15:17 NLT)

Five chapters after Saul was found hiding from his promotion, the prophet Samuel revealed the character flaw that ultimately cost Saul his destiny…

“Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Listen to what the Lord told me last night!” “What did he tell you?” Saul asked.  And Samuel told him, “ALTHOUGH YOU MAY THINK LITTLE OF YOURSELF, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord has anointed you king of Israel… So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” (1 Samuel 15:16-23 NLT)

Saul was a giant on the outside, but thought much less of himself on the inside…I know how that feels…

But thinking little of yourself is not a virtue. Insecurity is not healthy humility. It is a demonic destiny-destroying lie that if left unchecked will feed fear and unbelief!

Proverbs 23:7 NKJV says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…”

How you see yourself is how others will also see you. You can not rise above how you see yourself.

Insecurity, thinking little of yourself, is what caused the ten spies and the nation of Israel to miss their destiny, “We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”  (Numbers 13:33 KJV)

It is what caused the one-talented servant to fearfully hide his talent in the earth.

“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, “Master I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate.  I was afraid I would lose your money so I hid it in the earth.  Here is your money back.”  But the master replied, “You wicked and lazy servant!”  (Matthew 25:24-26 NLT)

No doubt the one-talented servant compared himself unfavorably to the other “higher talented” servants that were entrusted with five talents and two talents, as the Bible records all three received their talents at the same time and place. But God never created you to be like anyone else!

Comparison is a trap.  

Comparison is a destiny-destroyer. 

When we compare, we either think less of ourselves than we should or more of ourselves than we should.

The one talented servant thought less of himself…

Regarding comparison, Stewart B. Johnson said, “Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves, to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterday by today, to do our work with more force than ever before!”

The one-talented servant thought little of himself because he fell into the trap of comparing himself to others that seemed to have more. 

He then revealed that he saw God through the lens of his inferiority and fear when he said, “Master, I knew you were a harsh man.”  (Matthew 25:24 NLT)

My dear friend and great men’s ministry pioneer, Edwin Louis Cole always said, “What you believe about God will either attract you to Him or repel you from Him.”

The one-talented servant’s life was a do-nothing life that was frozen by fear, inferiority and the lie that God is a harsh God…

Because he thought little of himself, and because he saw God as a harsh God, he gave in to fear and laziness, stalled in his comfort zone and did nothing. 

To step into your season of promotion, you must move.  Put feet to your faith!  Your promotion can only be in motion when YOU are in motion toward it!

Action changes feelings…

Inaction reinforces negative feelings…

IT IS BETTER TO DO SOMETHING WITH FEAR OR LACK INSTEAD OF DOING NOTHING!

Like the loaves and fishes, God can take what you think is your little, bless it and multiply it to make it more than enough to fulfill His greater destiny for your life, when you put even what little you think you have into His great hands.

God’s power, supernatural provision, divine intervention and spiritual breakthrough come when you do something!  That is what happened when the four lepers, who were SITTING just a few feet from their miracle, at the entrance of the gates of Samaria, decided to MAKE A MOVE…

“Why should we sit here waiting to die?  We will starve if we stay here, but with the famine in the city, we will starve if we go back there. So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean army.  If they let us live, so much the better.  But if they kill us, we would have died anyway.  So at twilight they set out for the camp of the Arameans.  But when they came to the edge of the camp, no one was there!  For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the clatter of speeding chariots and the galloping of horses and the sound of a great army approaching…when the men with leprosy arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating and drinking wine; and they carried off silver and gold and clothing…”      (2 Kings 7:3-8 NLT)

These four lepers may have been the weakest – most improbable people for God to use in the entire nation of Israel.  They had nothing to give to God, but they decided to feed their future and not their fear – and God used these unlikely four lepers as His instruments to bring incredible blessing and promotion, not just to themselves – but also to the entire nation of Israel!

Here is a game changing truth I discovered: God promises to turn your weakness into strength, under one condition…

Hebrews 11:34 NLT  says, “God will turn your weakness into strength and will make you strong IN THE BATTLE.” 

He will not make you strong on the sidelines!  He will make you strong IN the battle, when you get back in the game and begin to make a move toward the greater thing that He has called you to do…

If you will use what God has given you – and take a step toward the greater thing God has called you to do – he will turn your weakness into strength – make you strong – and give you more! 

Why don’t you declare this again: “I am not what the devil says I am.  I am what God says I am.  And today, I am stepping in to my end-time destiny!” 

Your Master is not harsh…

He is full of praise and encouragement – and will even take the little you think you have and multiply it many fold, if you will just begin to use what God has given you.

“Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.  The master was full of praise.  Well done, my good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities.  Let’s celebrate together!” (Matthew 25:20b-21 NLT)

The five-talented servant – and the two-talented servant – understood that what they had been given was not for them to keep – or to bury – but to give to somebody else – to invest!  They valued what the Master had given them and why the Master gave it to them…

Don’t hide what God has given you.  Don’t think little of what God has given you.  Somebody needs what you have.  Somebody needs your words of encouragement.  Somebody needs your prayers.  Somebody needs the gift of God in your life.

Many times since that day in 1987, I have remembered that great truth Morris Cerullo spoke at the ORU chapel,

“Jesus is not depending on anything that I possess, He is depending on one thing – what He can make of me!”

Thirty plus years later, over and over again, God has proven this word true in my life and in the lives of countless others.

Without fear of contradiction, I boldly declare to you, “God is not depending on anything that you possess – God is depending on one thing – what He can make of you!”

Remember, because “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 KJV), thinking little of yourself is not a virtue, it is really thinking little of God and His workmanship in your life.

Why not decide to see God as He really is and see yourself as God sees you, because you are His great workmanship, and your promotion is in motion!

This is an excerpt from Your Promotion Is in Motion:Seven Game Changing Words From God That Will Promote You To Your Greater Destiny by Greg Mauro. To order the Kindle e-book or a printed copy go to Amazon.com or click here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1084143569/ref=cm_sw_r_em_api_i_c_SMfrDbEC61XZ2