It's Hard to be Humble: Biblical Humility

However, it’s nice to know that I’m not alone in my struggle with pride. Even heroes of the faith had some humility issues. Read this from Numbers 12:3: “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” At first glance, this might sound quite impressive. Until you consider who wrote the book of Numbers. Yep, Moses. But I digress.

Humility in Scripture

Humility is important for several reasons: the primary reason being that God commands it. In Micah 6:8, the prophet writes “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” That’s pretty clear-cut.

But God not only requires us to be humble; he also explains the benefits of humility.

He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. ( Psalm 25:9)

He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble. ( Proverbs 3:34)

Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. ( Luke 14:11)

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather humble myself and have God exalt me than exalt myself and have God humble me. The latter sounds much more painful in the long run.

Over my years of marriage, my wife and I have made a significant number of “some assembly required” purchases. And even though this probably goes against some sort of man-law, I heavily rely on the instruction manual to help me put an intricate item together. It’s especially important that the manual has pictures of what the finished product should look like. It’s much easier to put something together if I have a clear picture or model of the ideal.

And so it is with humility. Jesus is our ultimate example of what it looks like to be humble. In his letter to the church in Philippi, the apostle Paul gives this advice:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:5-11

Jesus - God the Son - left the splendor and majesty of heaven and took on human flesh to be born in a feeding trough. He showed the ultimate obedience and humility by subjecting himself to a form of execution reserved for the vilest offenders. He, who was sinless and perfect, suffered and died for us. and what was the result? Humankind was redeemed, Jesus was exalted and the Father was glorified.

Enhancing God’s Reputation

So how does this apply to us? How am we supposed to be like Jesus in the area of humility? Well, Paul spells it out pretty clearly; we should have the same attitude as Jesus. and what kind of attitude is that? One of service, obedience and sacrifice. One that seeks the good of others. One that is willing to lay down rights and privileges in order to glorify the Father. Because in the end, that’s what it’s all about.

Scripture clearly and repeatedly tells us that the purpose for which we were created, our reason for being alive, is to glorify God. I once heard someone explain what it means to glorify God this way: God doesn’t change. But the way people view him and think of him – his reputation – does change. So everything we say, do, think and feel can be to enhance God’s reputation; to give people a glimpse of how good and great God really is. And you can’t glorify God and yourself at the same time.