Yesterday, I woke up with a massive headache. And if you know anything about me, you know that I do not let pain stop me. I have intense pain throughout my body on any given moment of the day. However, today, the pain was nearly unbearable. I still went to my morning “Christian Formation” class that is presented by our church leaders. I still engaged in conversation relevant to the topic and provided material. I even engaged in edifying conversation with various ladies at church. Toward the end of the sermon, I developed a migraine, which I have not experienced in a long time.
After the service, I went to the drink stations in the foyer, and I refilled various supplies. I then wiped everything down, ensuring a neat and clean appearance for all to enjoy these amenities of coffee, tea, and bottle water. After all of it, my migraine had only worsened. And rather than let others know about it, I made a bee-line to pick up my youngest from the children’s activities and then straight to the car. At that point, I sat in the back seat, which tipped my husband off that I was not feeling well. I do not like to let anyone know that I am not up to caring for and working with others, but at this time, the only thing I had the ability to focus on was getting home to a dark, comfortable environment and laying down.
Have you ever had one of those days where you couldn’t focus on anything outside of the immediate task of quiet and calm? Have you ever found yourself incapacitated to serve and had to be served? This is a lesson in humility for me. I only want to help others and be the one to do things for others. I don’t like being helped. I want to do the helping. This exercise in humility led me to study being humble and looking up the definition of humility biblically. And this led me ultimately to specific Bible passages to help me round out my understanding of what humility and being humble is and what it means in the process of sanctification.
Humility is “a divine characteristic that involved putting other’s needs before one’s own, and is defined as a heart attitude of lowliness of mind.” Humility is a heart attitude, not just an outward demeanor. It is about seeking oneself before God and putting ourselves in our proper place. It is a divine characteristic in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And it is a prerequisite for Christians because we must come to Jesus as sinners with humility. This does not mean that we think less of ourselves by any means. But we think of ourselves less. It is not having a form of self-depreciation or an inferiority complex.
When we think of humility in this way, we can see that the Bible inseparably binds humility with the fear (reverence) of God. He is the Almighty Creator of the Universe and everything. He set the stars in the sky and knows them by name. He holds the Universe in the palm of His hand. He has given us life, and He has redeemed us from all the destruction and chaos that has entered His good creation. As Great and Awesome as He is, He still sees us individually and compassionately loves and cares for us in specific and distinct ways. We are truly and deeply loved by the Sovereign King of kings and Lord of lords. And when we recognize His majesty and power, there is only one way to approach Him and that is in humble adoration.
Humility in the Bible is presented as “the practice of meekness, obedience to God, respect of self and others, submissiveness, and modesty.” “People with humility put other’s needs before their own, sacrificing for the love of others.” This quote from the linked article mentions seeing Colossians 3:12-13, in which Paul, speaking to the Colossian believers there, says:
"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive."
How can we forgive others? By recognizing that we need forgiveness from God, and recognizing that we are all in the same boat. None of us are perfect and free from needing forgiveness. Humbling ourselves allows us to forgive others of offenses, and this frees us to love each other fully in grace and humility.
Humility in the apostle Paul’s day was regarded as distasteful by the pagan world. Pride was more highly prized. However, Jesus displayed humility, gentleness, patience, and peace. In Ephesians 4, Paul tells the Ephesian believers to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:1-3 ESV).” He goes on to say that we are united in one body and in one Spirit. We work together, caring for each other well when we humbly admit to needing help as well as helping others.
When Peter was telling believers how to relationally interact with one another, caring for one another well, he tells “you who are younger” (which we can apply to ourselves) “be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).” We all are to put on humility toward one another. James states the same in James 4:6 when he is warning the believers against worldliness. He states, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Being humble, having humility, plays a key role in how we live and interact with each other. Putting other’s needs before our own in love keeps us modest, equal, and meek. We are to emulate Jesus, and Jesus never placed Himself as superior when He was walking with and teaching His disciples, His followers. Humility is a grace that attracts more grace. Pride closes the door to spiritual growth, but humility opens the door of your life to more of God’s grace. To the humble, God gives patience, peace, and gentleness, which are character traits that Jesus displayed to us. Then when we read about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, we understand that these fruits grow in the soil of humility.
So what are some ways that we can be more humble? Well, we can be aware of our own shortcomings and limitations. We are not perfect. We can open to learning from others, recognizing the strengths of others. We are given talents and strengths to work with others, not instead of others. We all work together to accomplish the will of God. As was mentioned before, we can work towards putting the needs of others before our own. And one other thing that we can do that goes a long way relationally is being a good listener that ensures others feel heard and understood. We appreciate when others listen to what we have to say. We appreciate when we feel heard and understood. So we can reciprocate this characteristic when conversing with others. If we don’t humble accept our equal position in life with others, we stymie the flow of relational well-being.
One final and significant note is a parable that Jesus taught. He was dining at the house of the ruler of the Pharisees. He told the lawyers and the Pharisees that were invited to the meal the parable of the wedding feast.
"Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 'When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, "Give your place to this person," and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, "Friend, move up higher," Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.'" (Luke 14:7-11 ESV)
A parable is a teaching in story form. In this parable, Jesus is recognizing the pride of those seeking honorable seats near the head of the table. And thus teaching all invited – and by extension us since Luke is writing this to those who would read it – to be an example of humility. We humble ourselves, not for recognition purposes, but for the sake of being humble. And in doing so, we open up the opportunity to be lifted up and exalted by the host. The over-arching purpose in the grand scheme of life is to be humble before the Almighty Host (God), and He will exalt us in due time.
I want to leave you with one quote that is written by an anonymous author. It states:
“Not to be constrained by the greatest thing, but to be contained in the smallest thing, is divine.”
The faithful follower of Jesus lives in a kind of state between honorable and humble imitating Jesus. The Christian seeks great things for God’s greater glory not defined by the world, which is temporary, but rather by Our Father in heaven, which is eternally greater.
So when I humble myself, allowing others to help me in my time of need, I am humbling myself and letting go of the pride of doing ‘everything’ on my own. I am humbling myself to recognize that God made all of us to help others and be helped by others. And in doing so, I am a living example to my husband and sons that it is okay to serve and be served in love and humility.
Gotta go fill up my cup…..
Coffee with Candee 