Humility? You Gotta Be Kidding!

“You younger men, likewise be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with HUMILITY toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time” (1 Peter. 5:5-6).

Hey gang:  Well, the time for the politicians to fill the airways with all the wonderful things they have done and if re-elected will do in the future has passed.  I sense if the words “I” and “me” were expunged from their rhetoric, most would be dumb founded as to what to say. I do believe that, if a brave hearted soul were to open a store in the Belt Way selling humility, they would soon find themselves in bankruptcy court.

In his book Humility, The Beauty of Holiness Andrew Murray defines humility as a place of entire dependence on God.  Pride is the loss of humility and is the root of every sin and evil”.  In other words, when we allow pride to take over the control mechanism of our heart we have chosen to “…go our own way”.  (Isa. 53).

Murray went on to say that, if a person wants to be like Christ, then humility will be their primary characteristic.  Jesus said, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.   For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:29-30).

In Matthew 5:5 Jesus gives us the opposite of pride: “Blessed are the gentle (meek), for they shall inherit the earth”.  I always thought piety would be the highest standard when measuring a Christ like person, but Jesus calls on His children to take on humility as we place our total dependence on Him.

Now hear this, after researching the word humility, I find there is a needed ingredient to implementing humility - being thankfulness.  I have learned that folks who tend to be pride-bitten demand certain things but humble people accept with gratitude what the Father has given.

So, my friends, as you traverse through this day open your mouth and sing the little chorus, “If you want to be great in God’s kingdom to be a servant of all.” and put it into action.

Blessings,

Gramps