As the title states, this will be the third time I have written about humility. It’s a very important part of the believers life and needs much attention from each of us. We need to pound it into our head at every moment because pride can rear its ugly head at any moment.
First I should define humility just so we have a real grasp of it. For this definition I will go to the great Puritan Wilhelmus Brakel and his fourth volume of The Christians Reasonable Service.
“Humility is the humble disposition of the heart of the believer- both in a personal sense and towards his neighbor. It consists in having a correct judgment concerning himself whereby he neither elevates himself above his conditions nor wishes to be elevated by others as such.”
The Humble Disposition- Proverbs 29:23 reads “One’s pride will bring him low,
but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor”. This “lowly spirit” doesn’t mean a defeated spirit always, or a spirit of feeling inferior to others, or just having a low view of yourself compared to others. The lowly spirit comes when we see ourself compared to God as revealed through scripture. In essence, God is Holy and I am not. The Holy God had set His love upon me while I was against Him and only did for myself. Apart from God I am nothing and He promises me everything through His Son Jesus Christ. When we can grab ahold of this truth we begin the process of being humble or with a lowly spirit.
And towards our neighbor- This one is often the way we fail in the humility department. Not saying we always pass the humility test in reference to our personal life with God, because we don’t. But we tend to fail our neighbor and can see with our own eyes the consequences of that failure. God commands us to love our neighbor. Wilhelmus Brakel puts it this way:
“He acknowledges it to be the will of God that he loves his neighbor, and this motivates him to do so. He perceives in his neighbor that which is imminent and desirable; he highly esteems this, honors him as such, wholeheartedly submits himself to him in that respect, and with this disposition he does for his neighbor what God commands him to do.”
That seems pretty straightforward and plain. God commands us and we humbly submit to God, and in godly humility we serve our neighbor, without expecting anything in return.
We know that pride puffs up the heart and mind, and is the very root of all kinds of evil. So I would say that humility would be a root to all kinds of godly behaviors and graces. Pride brings us to a low point, but the place of low estate is the place where the humble man dwells and must strive to live.
Here are some verses concerning humility and God’s promise to the humble.
- Ephesians 4:2 “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
- James 4:6 “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
- James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
- Luke 14:11 “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
- Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
- Proverbs 3:34 “He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.”
- Proverbs 11:2 “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
- Proverbs 22:4 “Humility is the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and life”
Humility is the exact opposite disposition we are born with. And true Humility can only come from the heart of the justified. All forms of Humility outside of Christ are just selfish ambition used as a way to be seen by others. The believer isn’t instantly infused with humility, it doesn’t suddenly indwell the heart,it must be pursued.
We must pray for humility while also coming to God in humility. I can’t give you the how to for that one yet, as I’m working through that myself. But I can tell you to pray to be a more humble person, willing to serve God and neighbor in love, and while doing that, make sure your heart isn’t set on that humility being a scene for you to look Holy before others.
God, King of Heaven and Earth, let your people be a people of humility. Let us honor you by knowing we are nothing before you and less than nothing without you. Let us serve you with great humility and do as you command to our neighbor as well. Let us not pridefully desire to be humble so that we are seen by others. But let’s us desire to be humble, that your eye may look upon us and we may be a good and faithful servant. Amen
No King but Christ 