“In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Phil.
ii. 3).
When the apostle speaks of “the deep things of God,” he means more than
deep spiritual truth. There must be something before this. There must be a
deep soil and a thorough foundation.
Very much of our spiritual teaching fails, because the people to whom we
give it are so shallow. Their deeper nature has never been stirred.
The beatitudes begin at the bottom of things, the poor in spirit, the
mourners, and the hungry hearts. Suffering is essential to profound
spiritual life. We need not go to a monastery or a leper hospital to find
it. The first real opportunity for unselfishness will bring into your life
the anguish of crucifixion, unless you are born of some different race
from Adam’s.
It is because men and women have not faced this that they know so little
of suffering and death. We must have deep convictions. Truth must be to us
a necessity, and principle a part of our very being. Lord, make me poor in
spirit. Lord help me to be even as Thou wert when on earth, always the
lowest, and therefore “highly exalted.”