Humility

God never Intended our character Growth to be of vague concern, but it is the most important and distinguishable feature of a true disciple of Christ.

The dictionary describes humility as the trait of being modest or respectful.

This is a very under-informed description of this powerful word, for without humility, we actually have very little chance of sustained influence, as pride and humility, just like dark and light, have a hard time hanging out together.

Sounds heavy, but hey, Jesus was always great at confronting the hearts of mankind.

When humility is not present, the words - ‘Your kingdom come, on earth, as it is in heaven’ - become reversed to my kingdom reign... my will, my ambition, my way or the highway!

You see, pride - which can appear so slyly, and often in the form of self righteousness - has always been the downfall of the prominent, so called successful person.

What humility Is not: It’s not about putting yourself down; it’s not about letting people walk all over you and treat you like garbage. That’s false humility, and has more to do with other issues such as lack of self- esteem and/or the outfall of disappointment; being humble Is NOT about allowing yourself to be minimised to fit in.

These ideas are all wrong, because YOUR ARE OF SUCH VALUE TO GOD. These thoughts actually contradict scripture and violate God’s character.

In the c.s lewis book, ‘The screwtape letters’ (1942), is a conversation between two demons, screwtape, the very knowing older demon, teaching Wormwood, the young up and coming demon. It’s an interesting take on enemy strategy (remember, it’s fiction!). But they are discussing a strategy that would trap human beings into believing that a false type of humility seen to please man is all that is required as a christian, their goal being to disarm even the finest people by seeing them crippled by self-doubt and insecurity, keeping their lives small and ineffective.

In times of transition this is the point where many people get stuck, either just for a moment, or tragically for some, this is the moment they never recover from due to being emotionally and spiritually hounded by doubt and unbelief. can I tell you to- day, that this is not about you, these thoughts are from the pit of hell itself and you must realise it, and stand in the faith you Know is in you. a mustard seed worth of faith is a great start.

The stories of true humility are found in the ‘Who Me?’ examples in the Word.

Take david for example... a kind-hearted shepherd boy, who even in his own Father’s eye, didn’t qualify or measure up to be included in the line-up of greats that were paraded before samuel as possible candidates for King, and yet because God liked the appearance of david’s heart - a humble, simple, devoted heart - God himself raised david up, and caused what was obvious to the lord, a pure heart, to be made obvious to man. When God called him forward, david had a ‘Who Me?’ experience. Later in 2 Samuel, David prays an incredible prayer revealing the contents of his heart.

2 Samuel 7:18-21 ‘King david went in, took his place before God, and prayed: “Who am I, my Master God, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this place in life? But that’s nothing compared to what’s coming, for you’ve also spoken of my family far into the future, given me a glimpse into tomorrow, my Master God! What can I possibly say in the face of all this? You know me, Master God, just as I am. You’ve done all this not because of who I am but because of who You are—out of Your very heart!—but you’ve let me in on it.” (The Message)

The time that David actually ended up getting himself into trouble was when success and prominence brought about comfort and options, the two enemies of hunger, and pride began to breed in his very human heart.

Isaiah 66:2 says, ‘this is the one I esteem, he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my Word’.
To be proud simply means to have an inflated view of yourself, so, you take credit for all of your accomplishments, believing that it could only have been YOUR efforts that could have paved your way, taking the mighty hand of the lord out of the equation.

In numbers 12, it says that Moses was a humble man, in fact, more humble than any other man on the face of the earth. I love that the Word even tells us that he really struggled with his confidence, stuttering as he spoke, never thinking he could stand in front of a nation to bring resolve and God’s kindness. But there you have God’s way. he honours the heart of man. In fact the lord could trust Moses’ heart so much that it would not stray, that he even allowed Moses to see him and speak with him face to face.

Humility means moving from self-centredness, to God-centredness.

C.S. Lewis said it like this, ‘Pride gets not pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud or rich, or clever, or good looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better looking than all the others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever or good-looking, there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the com- parison that makes you proud. The pleasure of being above the rest.’

Next... Servanthood