QUOTES ON HUMILITY
Recently a pastor received a Christmas card with a note in it from a lady who attended a Christmas Eve service at the church. She was very complimentary about his preaching, comparing him with Billy Graham, saying, “I think you are one of the really great preachers of all time.” Later that day he showed the note to his wife. She asked, “Who is that woman?” The pastor replied, with a twinkle in his eye, “She is a very intelligent woman in the congregation who loves great preaching.” He then asked his wife, “How many great preachers do you suppose there really are in the world?” Without missing a beat, his wife replied, “Obviously there is one less than you think.”
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And then there was the minister who said he had a wonderful sermon on humility but he was waiting for a large crowd before preaching it.
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In contrast, Winston Churchill was once asked, “Doesn’t it thrill you to know that every time you make a speech, the hall is filled to overflowing?” Churchill replied, “It is quite flattering, but whenever I feel that way, I always remember that if instead of making a political speech I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big.”
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Tony Campolo encourages us to remember: “If you ever start to feel proud, just remember that soon after your body has been lowered into the grave, your family and friends will be eating potato salad and telling jokes, and you’ll be history.”
(From a sermon by Mike Gilbert, "Star Wars" 7/19/08)