Habits of Happiness Part 3 - The Humble Path to Happiness

  • The path to happiness is through humility. This is the key to reducing conflict in your life.
    • "Pride ALWAYS leads to arguments." Prov 13:10
  • Philippians 2:1-11
    • Harmony creates Happiness
    • Be interested in the lives of others.
  • Everything you learn will be counter-culture. It goes against everything you were taught by culture. But if you were asked to name 5 great relationships, how many could you list?
  • How to reduce conflict with others:
    • 1) NEVER let my PRIDE be my guide!
      • Pride is the root of every other sin. There is a little pride mixed in with every other sin.
      • "Don't do anything from selfish ambition or from vain conceit." Phil 2:3a
        • It's all about me = selfish ambition
          • "Wherever there's jealousy or selfish ambition, you will find confusion and every other kind of evil." James 3:16
          • "Our self-indulgent nature shows itself… in conflict, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, causing divisions among people, and the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group." Gal. 5:19-21
        • I'm always right = vain conceit
          • "Don't live to make a good impression to others." (LB)
          • "Don't do anything from a cheap desire to boast." (TEV)
            • Think about it before you post on Instagram lol
      • We have an "I" problem.
    • 2) Be HUMBLE or I'll stumble!
      • "Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourself." Phil. 2:3b
        • Humility is NOT thinking less of yourself. It's thinking of yourself less.
          • False humility = I'm nothing, I'm no good, etc.
            • With false humility, you are STILL thinking of yourself.
          • Great people make others feel good about themselves. Little people make other feel little.
        • Humility is being HONEST about both your STRENGTHS and your WEAKNESSES.
      • "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6
        • GOD HATES PRIDE.
        • I may have the right cause, but if I'm approaching it in the wrong way, you are on the wrong side of God.
        • Grace is ability to forgive, compromise, get along, build a strong relationship… when I don't feel like it. You need GRACE, and you won't get it without humility.
    • 3) Learn the lost art of paying attention.
      • We pay attention to screens more than we pay attention to people.
      • Your head is always down in a videogame.***
      • "Don't be interested only in your own life, but be interested in what concerns others too." Phil. 2:4
        • = Love and Humility
        • Are you interested in what your wife says? What your kids say?
          • By NATURE, we care only about what WE think. We could care less what others think.
          • You MUST learn to go against this human nature and be interested in others.
        • Paying attention is an act of love.
          • TIME and ATTENTION are the two greatest gifts you can every give someone.
          • Look them in the eyes = you matter to me. What you say is IMPORTANT.
    • 4) What would Jesus do?
      • "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Phil 2:5
      • In EVERY situation, ask that question over and over again and that will lead to happiness.
      • Acting like Jesus means….
        • 1) I don't demand what I think I deserve.
          • i) "Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He emptied himself of all he had…." Phil. 2:6
          • ii) We are raised to demand our rights. However, there is a BETTER way to do it. Demanding makes people resistant to you.
          • iii) Rick takes out staff before hiring them and watches how they treat the staff.
            • You can get your needs met without blowing people off.
        • 2) I look for ways that I can serve.
          • i) "Jesus took on the nature of a servant, becoming a human just like us." Phil. 2:7
          • ii) Counter to what culture says = the more servants you have, the more important you are.
          • iii) We need to understand that the more we serve, the more Christlike we are and the more we will be blessed.
          • iv) It's a HABIT that can be developed with the little things in life.
            • Pick up the piece of trash. Don't leave it for someone else.
            • Take back the grocery cart. Don't leave it for someone else.
            • "We teach our staff to leave any place better than how we found it." CEO of Chik-fil-A cleaned bathroom sink of Taco Bell without anyone ever knowing.
        • 3) I do what's right, even when it's painful.
          • i) "While living as a man, Jesus humbled himself even more, by being fully obedient to God, even when that meant his death on a cross!" Phil. 2:8 (NCV)
          • ii) "Because of this God exalted Jesus to the highest honor, and made his name greater than every other name. That at the name of Jesus every knee will one day bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and give glory to God the Father." Phil. 2:9-11
          • iii) We use Jesus' name when we swear because there is NO HIGHER NAME in the universe!!!

 

  •  Discussion (small group):
    • There was a boss who humbled himself and took out the trash even though he was like CEO or something. Everyone loved him and wanted to be like him and it changed the morale of the company. Made it very successful.

 

 

Back to Habits of Happiness