Humility

We live in a society that celebrates greatness. We honor those who excel in a chosen field and host many award ceremonies. Growing up in a Christian home, humility was stressed. Pride was something to be avoided because it was against God. We heard the scripture that “pride goes before the fall” (Proverbs 16:18) referred to. After losing an argument, we are often told to eat humble pie. I have always considered myself a humble person. However, this past spring, I realized that while I may be humble in my relationships with my family, friends, and strangers, I do not display the same humility to God.

While studying the story of Joseph in Bible study, I was struck by how I have always thought about humility on a horizontal level (human) and have not thought about it on a vertical plane (spiritual). C.S. Lewis says, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less .”This was very eye-opening to me. Socrates said, “The only thing I know is that I know nothing.”

Somewhere in my life, I came to associate humility with a low view of myself. This could not be further from the truth. I got humility and self-judgment confused. My pastor recently said that low self-esteem and pride are two sides of the same coin. In both situations, the self is the main character, not God.

As we continued to study Joseph, we learned what true humility looks like. Joseph had everything taken from him many times. He was sold into slavery by his brothers, lied about by Potiphar’s wife, and thrown into prison. He was forgotten after interpreting the other prisoners’ dreams. How did he keep going on and trusting in God and the dream that God had given him? It was because he had the right heart attitude toward God and himself. He knew that nothing in this life was about him, but everything was about God.

True humility is having a servant’s attitude, heart, and actions. Joseph served with the correct attitude of heart in Potiphar’s house and in prison. We can also see humility in Moses, a meek servant who submitted himself fully and faithfully to God, and David, who was far from perfect but humbly repented of his sins and knew his power and authority were given to him by God. Jesus’ mother, Mary, is a beautiful example of living in humility. This young girl gave birth to the son of God and yet gave glory to God and called herself blessed. The apostle Paul is a marvelous example of living a changed life after encountering Jesus as Savior. I am sure he lived the rest of his life knowing who he had been and what he had done, compared to the new man of God he became after repenting and turning his life over to God to be used by God for God’s glory and kingdom.

Of course, our most significant example of true humility and servitude to God is Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, had all the rights and privileges in heaven. He is part of the Trinity and is perfect and holy. And yet, this son of God came to earth, lived a perfect life, and then, amazingly, died a horrendous death to save us from our sins. He took all the sins already committed and all the sins still to be committed and paid the penalty for us. He bowed his knees before the almighty God and went to the cross in true servitude and humility.

How do we express humility toward God? I thought I was doing just that. I read my Bible, believe that everything comes from God, and pray for direction and God’s will in my life, to name a few. While reading a devotional, I realized that pride may come in many forms. I pridefully think I will get myself through my day. I pridefully think I supply the needs of my family. At other times, I expect perfection from myself or others. I was amazed to discover that having a perfectionist attitude is a form of pride. Only God is perfect. I may be inadvertently creating idols that I am bowing down to by expecting perfection in an imperfect world. The Bible is very clear about us not having any gods before God. (Exodus 20:3) Any time I focus on self rather than God, I am displaying pride.

I look at the story of Satan being cast out of heaven and think in amazement; how could he be so full of himself that living in the very presence of God was not enough, and he wanted more power and position. If I am truly willing to look at myself, I will see the same attitude reflected in my life. How often do I say, either by my actions, choices, or self-consciousness, that I know better than God? I am reflecting on times when I did not wait for God to answer a prayer before I acted. Or I did not give God time but acted in my best interests. Admittedly, sometimes the situation worked out fine. Still, other times, I had to deal with the fallout of my prideful choice. I would have been spared some heartache if I had acted with humility and not pride.  

Humility is more than just thinking of yourself less; it is also knowing that you are not responsible for your own success. I think when we have been blessed by God, we tend to lose the sense that everything we have or are able to achieve comes from God and the abilities he has given us. I have realized that having a thankful heart is the biggest weapon against forming a prideful spirit. Thank God every day for all the blessings, big or small. Thank him for his faithfulness, goodness, and love.

God hates pride because he knows what it will do to us. Pride will destroy us if it is not cut off. Pride lies to us about who God is. Pride is an invasive weed that winds its way around our hearts and tries to choke out our belief in God and his faithfulness, goodness, and love. We may think that God does not care about us when bad things happen, or we feel like we have entered the silent years. (Think of Joseph’s story) Life keeps coming at us, one hurdle after the next, and we don’t know how we will make it through another day. We will fail if we are trying to do it on our own. Humility occurs when we realize we can’t make it on our own and turn to God in complete trust. We must bow our hearts and minds to God and let go of the illusion that we are in charge. Pride does not allow us to ask for help. Humility gives us the freedom to admit we need help and that we are not all that is required to get through life triumphantly.

Getting a proper perspective of any pride we may be harboring in our hearts is vital. Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 16:4-5 makes it very clear that although we may not see or believe it, God sees everything, actions, and thoughts, and the wicked will not go unpunished. I think this does not just apply to our earthly relationships and actions but also to how we humbly serve God in our hearts.

I have realized that displaying humility is about knowing who you are and who God is. There is peace, comfort, and freedom in having a humble heart and releasing your life into God’s hands. I had to change my thinking and realized humility is not about displaying weakness but meekness. I am trying to stop fighting for control and allowing God to have his way even when I don’t understand what is going on. I must stop telling God, “I can take it from here, thanks for the assist,” but humbly trust God and allow him to have his way. After all, it is the best way forward.