Humility is an interesting concept. It has been said by many that “once you think you have humility, that’s about the time you lost it.” Perhaps there is some truth to that claim. Humility requires constant investments of time and introspection.
The Webster’s dictionary defines humility as “a modest opinion or estimate of one’s importance or rank.” Humility is keeping yourself in proper perspective. It is not thinking less of ourselves, it is merely thinking of ourselves less.
The word humble appears over 80 times in Scripture. Let’s examine what the Bible has to say about humility. For the sake of our purposes, I will limit this discussion to three New Testament occurrences. What does the Bible teach about this subject?
*We must humble ourselves. As Believers, we are called to rightly evaluate ourselves and be subservient under the purview of God. Christians are instructed to realize their dependence on Christ alone. We humble ourselves by growing in dependence on Him and not ourselves.
Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. James 4:10
*God humbles us as well. While we are called to submit ourselves to God, we are also taught that God does humble us from time to time. He does so through circumstances that come upon us that are out of our control. God humbles us and helps us realize that we do not control much in our lives. This humbling is not always pleasant, but, it is always necessary.
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11
*Jesus is the ultimate example of humility. He is our example and what He revealed to us through the cross is what we should aim for each day. We are never more like Jesus than when we humble ourselves.
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:8
Humility is not valued by our world today. It is always valued in the kingdom of God. Be humble and realize your dependence upon God. It will make a huge difference in your life with Christ!
Tony French
mrtonyfrench 