Our Daily Bread Devotional Thursday 15 February 2024: Humility’s Perk

Our Daily Bread Devotional Thursday 15 February 2024 ODB Message

Read Our Daily Bread Devotional Thursday 15 February 2024 ODB Message written by Kirsten Holmberg and Today’s Insight By Bill Crowder

TOPIC: Humility’s Perk

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 17–18; Matthew 27:27–50

Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life. – Proverbs 22:4

Today’s Scripture: Proverbs 22:1–5

1 A good name is more desirable than great riches;
to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

2 Rich and poor have this in common:
The Lord is the Maker of them all.

3 The prudent see danger and take refuge,
but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

4 Humility is the fear of the Lord;
its wages are riches and honor and life.

5 In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls,
but those who would preserve their life stay far from them.

ODB Devotional February 2024 Insight:
The book of Proverbs is both helpful and challenging. It’s helpful because it offers us wisdom for living. What’s wisdom? It can be defined as the appropriate application of knowledge and understanding to life situations. Which of us doesn’t need that? Clearly, we all do—and it’s readily available. James wrote, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5).

Our wise God is the true and ultimate source of wisdom. What makes the Proverbs challenging, however, is that they offer general insight on how life works best—not ironclad promises. When we attempt to make them into guarantees, we try to prove too much. It’s better to let them guide us in wise, humble living without placing on them the expectation of specific outcomes.

Our Daily Bread Devotional Thursday 15 February 2024: MESSAGE

Like many teachers, Carrie devotes countless hours to her career, often grading papers and communicating with students and parents late into the evening. To sustain the effort, she relies on her community of colleagues for camaraderie and practical help; her challenging job is made easier through collaboration. A recent study of educators found that the benefit of collaboration is magnified when those we work with demonstrate humility. When colleagues are willing to admit their weaknesses, others feel safe to share their knowledge with one another, effectively helping everyone in the group.

The Bible teaches the importance of humility—for much more than enhanced collaboration. “Fear[ing] the Lord”—having a right understanding of who we are in comparison with the beauty, power, and majesty of God—results in “riches and honor and life” (Proverbs 22:4). Humility leads us to living in community in a way that’s fruitful in God’s economy, not just the world’s, because we seek to benefit our fellow image bearers.

We don’t fear God as a way to gain “riches and honor and life” for ourselves—that wouldn’t be true humility at all. Instead, we imitate Jesus, who “made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant” (Philippians 2:7) so we can become part of a body that humbly cooperates together to do His work, give Him honor, and take a message of life to the world around us.

REFLECT: What does humility mean to you? How have you seen someone’s humility benefit others?

PRAY: Dear Jesus, I surrender my pride to You.

Our Daily Bread 15th February 2024 Devotional, Thursday ODB Message. Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is a Christian organization founded by Dr. Martin De Haan in 1938. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with over 600 employees. It produces several devotional publications, including Our Daily Bread. our daily bread devotional for today audio our daily bread booklet.