The Indispensable Christian Trait

When I was a much younger man, I got to have dinner at the house of a then-hero of mine. About a decade prior, I had heard him give a talk at a “Jesus Fair” (you have to be a certain age even to know what those things were) when I was in college, and can still remember, to this day, what he preached about. How many sermons have I heard and forgotten? Thousands, perhaps. Why does this one stay with me, even forty years later?

At the dinner a decade later, he thanked me profusely for writing Seeking the Face of God (now, rewritten and re-released as Thirsting for God) and told me the chapter on humility was worth the price of the book. I soared hearing those words from him! I was an unknown author at the time, who appreciated every single sale because they added up so slowly. The fact that I had written anything, however ignored, that caught his attention, gave me even more motivation to continue writing.

When I rewrote Seeking the Face of God (to become Thirsting for God), my instructions were to make each chapter shorter, so the original chapter on humility is now broken up into six chapters, but this week I’m sharing the opening section that explains how central the practice of humility is to a true Christian faith.

People often ask me what my favorite book is (of those I have written). That’s impossible for me to answer, but three—Sacred Marriage, Sacred Pathways, and Thirsting for God—will always have a special place in my heart. I do hope you’re enjoying some of these excerpts from Thirsting for God, and would love to hear your comments.