Humility is rare. It is hard to find. It is not a characteristic that many people look to attain. In many cases, humility is seen as something negative. Most people perceive humility as weakness rather than strength. They look at humility as something to be resisted and not embraced.
When Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek” (see Matthew 5:5), it went against conventional wisdom. It would almost seem absurd, except it came from Jesus. Humility, although it is wisdom from God, defies human logic. Human logic would tell us that humility is not a way to blessing, but a path to be taken advantage of.
One of the greatest achievers of all time was Moses. He overcame the Pharaoh of Egypt along with his army. He led the children of Israel out of slavery and to the brink of the promised land. No one would deny his incredible accomplishments. But in Numbers 12:3 Moses was described as the most humble man on the earth. Humility was one of the secrets of Moses’ success. The reality was all of Moses’ accomplishments were God’s accomplishments. It was because Moses submitted to the Lord, that God used him in a powerful way to perform mighty miracles. It was the humility found in Moses that opened the door for God to work through Moses.
Humility is putting ourselves under God. It is submitting to his will and allowing God to have his way with us. It is emptying ourselves so that he might fill us. It is setting aside our “can do” for God’s “more than able.”
James writes:
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. James 4:7–8 (ESV)
Humility is the only true relationship with the Father. We cannot approach God in pride. In the above verse, it says to draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. But what does it mean to draw near to God? The next few verses explain a bit more:
Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:8–10 (ESV)
Again, we see a close parallel between James and the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5–7). These above verses bring to mind the beatitudes of Jesus where he says, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart and blessed are those who mourn.’ What is the blessing of these things? It is this…
A person who is broken needs Jesus! When we are living in a place of pride, we tend to distance ourselves from God. When we enter a place of brokenness, we are drawn to him. A humble place is not always a happy place, but it is a place of utter dependence upon God for everything. The more we trust him and look to him the more we will see him at work in our lives.
The only one who in lived such true humility with the Father was Jesus. He completely and fully submitted himself to the Father’s will. We see in Jesus complete dependence on the Father. Jesus live every moment of his life for the Father. It was through complete humility that Jesus accomplished what no other person could accomplish – the salvation of the world!
Do you want to know humility and the path to God’s strength? Such humility is found in knowing Jesus. The more you know Jesus, the more you will know the strength of humility before God.
Questions for Reflection
- Why is humility viewed in a negative way and resisted?
- Do you agree that we can achieve more through humility than pride? Why?
- What do you think it means to draw near to God?
- Share you comments.
Dominique Bovard says
humility is viewed negatively and resisted ( in me ) because we are born in the world being taught ( it’s our nature partly) to succeed, be strong, be loved,to be rich, to be admired, so it’s difficult, even after being born again, to traval this path. I agree with can achieve more through humility, because we can learn more ( because we realise we don’t know it all), and it brings us some kind of happiness, because people don’t feel we are superior to them, and can love us in return.To draw near to God means going to Him first in prayer, and realising we are falling short in attitudes and actions, we beg Him to help us
Janet Baldwin says
I like what you said, drawing near to God means going to God first. Not after you have tried on your own and made a complete mess of it. But submitting to God first and seeking his will in our lives. Thank you for sharing.