Less Than

The other day I was in a discussion with a couple people and I found myself feeling more and more “less than”. 

I felt incompetent and inarticulate in a room with these people who are noted for the knowledge, insight, and, well…competence they bring. 

I felt far from God in this moment. 

It didn’t feel like a kingdom conversation.

This got me to thinking…Do people ever feel “less than” with me?  Do I default to a posture of self-importance in some settings?  Do I talk too much and listen too little?

What do kingdom conversations sound like?

How do I become more aware of an attitude of self-importance, and repent?

Do I call out the unique gifts in each person who is present?

Can I seek out and ask the opinion of the quietest and the “least important” person in the discussion?

What sincere words of affirmation and value can I speak into the lives of those who may feel “less than”?

Was Paul coaching on kingdom conversations when he said, “Take the attitude of Christ…Consider others as better than yourselves…”

The story has often been repeated of a young woman who had dined with both statesmen, Gladstone and Disraeli. She is said to have compared the two men this way. "When I dined with Mr. Gladstone, I felt as though he was the smartest man in England. But when I dined with Mr. Disraeli, I felt as though I was the smartest woman in England."

Just thinking…