Living 'In Need': Humility That Keeps Us Close to Christ
Growing in Christ doesn't mean outgrowing our need for him. Receive mercy honestly, use good habits gratefully, and approach other people as someone who also needs the Savior.
#238 — Living "In Need"
Oct 13, 2022
Play the original Excel Still More episode here without leaving the article.
Our need doesn't expire
Another person's need can be easier to recognize than my own. I may quickly notice a habit that needs changing or a truth they haven't understood, while giving much less attention to what the Lord still needs to teach me. Meanwhile, our familiarity with Scripture and years of faithful service can quietly become evidence that we have moved beyond the beginner's dependence. We may never say we no longer need Christ, but our treatment of others can begin to suggest that they need mercy in a way we don't.
Growth never makes the Savior unnecessary. We can learn more, become more dependable, and serve more usefully without gaining the ability to supply our own forgiveness or turning the cross into something only beginners need. That realization isn't intended to make effort pointless. It places effort in its proper relationship to the Lord whose mercy gives us reason to rise, repent, serve, and continue.
Receive the place of humility
In Matthew 18:1–4, the disciples ask who is greatest in the kingdom. Jesus brings a child before them and makes humility the answer, correcting a question that has been directed toward who will stand above the rest. The point isn't that every feature of childhood should be imitated. He confronts their concern with status by directing them toward lowliness. The kingdom's measure is very different from the urge to establish who stands above everyone else.
Let that answer reach your view of progress. Experience and knowledge can make us useful, but they can't give us a right to despise somebody who has less of either or still needs help with something we understand. A person who has served the Lord for decades should have many reasons to be grateful and many ways to help. That person still approaches God as a dependent recipient of His kindness. Humility means receiving that truth willingly instead of viewing it as an insult to all the work already done.
Let good habits deepen gratitude
Bible reading, prayer, assembly, and generosity deserve serious attention. Humility shouldn't become a reason to neglect the very conduct Scripture teaches, as though remembering grace required us to stop caring whether we obey. Ephesians 2:8–10 holds together salvation by grace and the good works for which believers are created in Christ. The works belong in the saved life, but they don't transform the cross into an unnecessary supplement to human achievement.
Ask what your habits are doing in your heart. A discipline meant to help us hear the Lord can become another comparison if we spend more time considering who falls behind than receiving what the word says to us. A steady Bible-reading practice should help us hear the Lord, not merely prove that we are more diligent than someone else. Generosity should relieve need, not purchase a superior identity. We can appreciate growth without treating it as a certificate of self-sufficiency. The abilities and opportunities entrusted to us call for stewardship and gratitude.
Dependence still takes action
Jesus pictures a vine and branches in John 15:1–5. Fruit comes through abiding in him, not through a branch becoming strong enough to separate itself and continue as though the source were no longer needed. The passage doesn't invite passivity; bearing fruit is part of the point. Spiritual usefulness must remain rooted in a living relationship of trust and obedience to Christ.
That dependence doesn't remove our choice. Jesus calls disciples to abide, so we should receive his direction willingly rather than describe grace as a force that makes either faith or continued obedience something done without our response. Nor should we imagine that needing Him means every faithful action is impossible until we receive a private sign. His revealed word already directs much of what we should do. Dependence expresses itself as listening, praying, submitting, and acting upon what He teaches rather than waiting for an experience to replace responsibility.
Confess with hope
First John 1:7–9 joins walking in the light, Christ's cleansing blood, and honest confession. John doesn't let believers protect their image by pretending there is no sin, and he doesn't leave the person admitting it without a hopeful way forward. Neither does he leave them without hope when they acknowledge it. God's faithfulness and righteousness stand behind the offered forgiveness. This is a better foundation than either hiding wrongdoing to protect a spiritual reputation or concluding that failure means there is no reason to return.
Confession needs to name the actual wrong. Saying that everyone is imperfect can be true while leaving a particular lie, cruel word, or selfish choice safely beyond the correction it needs. Selfishness may require changed habits and restitution. Confession isn't a substitute for repentance, and grace doesn't make deliberate rebellion harmless. Yet acknowledging a wrong need not destroy hope. The Savior's mercy invites us to deal honestly with the problem rather than spending our energy proving that respectable people like us couldn't have caused it.
Stand beside the person you help
Luke 18:9–14 addresses self-trust joined to contempt for others. The Pharisee and tax collector show why religious conduct becomes dangerous when we use it to establish superiority instead of recognizing the mercy on which we depend. The tax collector seeks mercy rather than presenting a claim of deserving acceptance. Jesus' lesson should make us cautious about a posture that speaks as though other people are the problem while our own conduct needs no examination.
This doesn't make every belief equally true or every choice equally faithful. We still need to correct error, but correction should come from someone pointing to Christ rather than acting as though personal achievement has made us another person's savior. The difference is the place from which we approach the person. Instead of presenting ourselves as the source of their salvation, we point to Christ as the Savior both of us need. We may have knowledge to share or experience that helps, but we have not become the standard of righteousness. Patient, truthful conversation can offer direction without the unnecessary burden of contempt.
Let mercy move toward service
Jesus enters Zacchaeus' home in Luke 19:1–10 while others dismiss him as a sinner. The account includes both the Savior's welcome and Zacchaeus' serious response concerning giving and restitution, so kindness and changed conduct aren't competing concerns. Mercy doesn't leave Zacchaeus untouched; it opens a way toward a different life, including a serious reckoning with his treatment of others.
Remembering our own need can make a hard conversation gentler and more useful. Galatians 6:1–2 tells those restoring a person caught in sin to watch themselves too, joining practical help to a humility that remembers we can also fall. The warning to self-examination keeps service from becoming a display of superiority. We help as people who can also stumble, using whatever strength and understanding we have to serve rather than to establish distance from the person struggling.
Come with thankful confidence
Hebrews 4:14–16 directs us to Jesus as the great high priest who was tempted without sin. Because of him, we can approach for mercy and timely help instead of deciding that either pride or embarrassment should keep us away. That confidence is neither swagger nor despair. We don't arrive because our record has made assistance unnecessary, and we don't stay away because needing assistance is embarrassing. We come because the Lord has provided a trustworthy way to seek it.
Admit that need plainly as you begin the day. Thank God, name a responsibility where you need wisdom, and act on what is already clear, letting the same humility guide how you speak when somebody else's weakness becomes visible. A song about need can awaken that recognition, but the recognition must continue beyond the emotion of singing. The enduring aim is a humble, obedient life that keeps turning toward Christ and helping others do the same.
Take the idea with you.
- 01What growth am I beginning to use as a reason to feel self-sufficient?
- 02How would remembering my need change the way I correct someone?
Prefer listening?
The original episode player is available near the top of this article, so you can listen without leaving the page.
