I might also add that through my long corporate career I noticed how when I was part of a team, I would think it an abuse when managers/leaders did not solicit the advice of team members on solutions to problems, but whenever placed in a leadership role, the tendency was there to believe that I was in this role because I knew more, was wiser than the team I lead, was chosen out from among the team I was part of because I was superior to them. This is something that one had to guard against.
I suspect the same mental trap befalls those who are part of a so called elites group. They fully believe that they exist at there station because they are superior, and this mentality has a belittling affect upon everyone they perceive as below them in position, or rank, attainment, class whether real or imagined.
This is the reason God wants us to be humble. One of the greatest attributes of Moses was he was humble above all the others yet he was the leader. If you do a simple word search in the Bible on "humble", it will be a blessing to you!
2Ch_7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Mat_18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Jas_4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
My favorite is Mathew 20 The Parable of the Vineyard Workers: So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
I also will type this from memory, something I read a long time ago that has stuck with me.
A Chinese saying: (don't remember who, and this is they way I remember it)
The reason why rivers and seas receive the homage of a hundred mountain streams is that they keep below them. Thus they are able to reign over all the mountain streams. So the sage, wishing to be above men, putteth himself below them; wishing to be before them, he putteth himself behind. Therefore, though his place be above men, they do not feel his weight; though his place be ahead, they do not count it an injury.”
I looked and here is the actual quote from Lao-Tse:
Putting One's Self Last:
That whereby the rivers and seas are able to receive the homage and tribute of all the valley streams, is their skill in being lower than they;--it is thus that they are the kings of them all.
So it is that the sage, wishing to be above men, puts himself by his words below them, and, wishing to be before them, places his person behind them.
In this way though he has his place above them, men do not feel his weight, nor though he has his place before them, do they feel it an injury to them.
Therefore all in the world delight to exalt him and do not weary of him. Because he does not strive, no one finds it possible to strive with him.
You speak the truth.
I might also add that through my long corporate career I noticed how when I was part of a team, I would think it an abuse when managers/leaders did not solicit the advice of team members on solutions to problems, but whenever placed in a leadership role, the tendency was there to believe that I was in this role because I knew more, was wiser than the team I lead, was chosen out from among the team I was part of because I was superior to them. This is something that one had to guard against.
I suspect the same mental trap befalls those who are part of a so called elites group. They fully believe that they exist at there station because they are superior, and this mentality has a belittling affect upon everyone they perceive as below them in position, or rank, attainment, class whether real or imagined.
This is the reason God wants us to be humble. One of the greatest attributes of Moses was he was humble above all the others yet he was the leader. If you do a simple word search in the Bible on "humble", it will be a blessing to you!
2Ch_7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Mat_18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Jas_4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
My favorite is Mathew 20 The Parable of the Vineyard Workers: So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
I also will type this from memory, something I read a long time ago that has stuck with me.
A Chinese saying: (don't remember who, and this is they way I remember it)
The reason why rivers and seas receive the homage of a hundred mountain streams is that they keep below them. Thus they are able to reign over all the mountain streams. So the sage, wishing to be above men, putteth himself below them; wishing to be before them, he putteth himself behind. Therefore, though his place be above men, they do not feel his weight; though his place be ahead, they do not count it an injury.”
I looked and here is the actual quote from Lao-Tse:
Putting One's Self Last:
That whereby the rivers and seas are able to receive the homage and tribute of all the valley streams, is their skill in being lower than they;--it is thus that they are the kings of them all.
So it is that the sage, wishing to be above men, puts himself by his words below them, and, wishing to be before them, places his person behind them.
In this way though he has his place above them, men do not feel his weight, nor though he has his place before them, do they feel it an injury to them.
Therefore all in the world delight to exalt him and do not weary of him. Because he does not strive, no one finds it possible to strive with him.
I couldn't agree more!
Your Chinese saying is very similar to this:
Tao Te Ching – Verse 22
If you want to become whole,
let yourself be partial.
If you want to become straight,
let yourself be crooked.
If you want to become full,
let yourself be empty.
If you want to be reborn,
let yourself die.
If you want to be given everything,
give everything up.
The Master, by residing in the Tao,
sets an example for all beings.
Because he doesn’t display himself,
people can see his light.
Because he has nothing to prove,
people can trust his words.
Because he doesn’t know who he is,
people recognize themselves in him.
Because he has no goal in mind,
everything he does succeeds.
When the ancient Masters said,
“If you want to be given everything,
give everything up,”
they weren’t using empty phrases.
Only in being lived by the Tao can you be truly yourself.
If they had said, "If you want to do everything, do nothing", that is the philosophy I'm sure my wife would agree I am a devotee of.