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Learning Humility

by Chris Simmons

From a human perspective Paul had a great deal to be proud of which he referred to in Philippians 3:4-6. Paul however learned to put his human gains behind him and with humility serve God with everything he had (Philippians 3:7-14). When writing to the brethren in Corinth, he passed on this lesson when he wrote in I Corinthians 4:6, “Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.” Humility is not an attribute that we’re born with (or without) but like Paul’s exhortation, is something to be learned and acquired in our lives. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines humility as “having a humble opinion of oneself; a deep sense of one’s littleness; modesty, humility, lowliness of mind … having a modest opinion of oneself.” Do we really have a sense of humility, littleness and modesty about our self? If not, it can be and must be learned if we are to be true disciples of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:3-5). It is rightly said, “no one will learn anything at all, unless one will first learn humility.” For as long as we think we’re something special and important, we will never learn what God intended for man to learn.

The bottom line is that we must learn humility if we hope to be saved and be with God in heaven. We read in James 4:6-10, “Therefore it says, ‘God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” Humility is to be a fundamental and essential characteristic of our “walk” as a child of God even as Paul writes in Ephesians 4:1-3, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love.” Our life (our walk) is to be consistently defined by humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance and love.

Humility is a conscious choice that we are taught to make in God’s word. It’s described in I Peter 5:5 as something we are to clothe ourselves with. Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament says of the word “clothe” that it “means a ‘slave's apron,’ under which the loose garments were girt up. Hence, the figure carries an exhortation to put on humility as a ‘working virtue’ employed in ‘ministry.’ This is apparent from the evident reminiscence of that scene in which Peter figured so prominently – the washing of the disciples’ feet by the Lord, when he ‘girded himself’ with a towel as a servant, and gave them the lesson of ministry both by word and act. Bengel paraphrases, ‘Put on and wrap yourselves about with humility, so that the covering of humility cannot possibly be stripped from you.’” We choose what clothes we put on each day and we choose when and what to take off. Humility is the spiritual virtue that is to be part of our spiritual attire that we decide to put on and never take off.

How do we go about learning humility? We learn humility through prayer. When we approach God through prayer, the only acceptable prayer is one offered in humility that recognizes God as all powerful, all knowing and possessing all authority and able to answer every prayer according to His will. When we pray to God, we must be acknowledging our dependence on Him and our need for His involvement, presence and will in our life. If we approach God in prayer trusting in ourselves that we are righteous, important and superior, we not only fail to have our prayers heard, but we will fail to ever be exalted by our heavenly Father. We read in Luke 18:9-14 of the contrast of the Pharisee who thanked God for righteousness and superiority over everybody else verses the humble petition of the tax-gatherer who “standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’” We can’t afford to miss our daily opportunities to learn humility through prayer.

We learn humility through serving. Humility comes when we learn to look outside ourselves to the opportunities and needs of those around us. Serving others is not something we can place as a duty and obligation of the church or upon the elders, deacons or evangelist. Service is a personal responsible we all must carry which invariably leads to our lessons in humility. Jesus demonstrated this in John 13:1-17 when He rose from the supper, girded Himself about and began to wash the feet of the apostles one by one. Jesus did this to give us an example so that we might do as He had done (verse 15) and learn humility through serving.

We learn humility through study. When we read, study and meditate on God’s word, the lesson of humility will be abundantly supplied to us. As we study, that same humility must overshadow our attitude towards the scriptures and the manner in which we receive them. James wrote in James 1:21, “Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.” God’s word is fully capable of teaching us all we need regarding the place of humility in our life (II Timothy 3:16-17) and teaches us how through it we can glorify and honor God and allow Him to then exalt us in that day. May we respect the authority of His word and have the humility that will keep us from exalting our ideas, opinions and human judgments above His revealed will.

We might have to learn humility providentially. If we are insistent on seeking our own honor, Jesus teaches us that we might find ourselves learning an unforgettable lesson in humility. We read in Luke 14:7-11 of the parable of the wedding feast in which a man assumes the place of honor and then is told to “give place” to someone else and is disgraced to “occupy the last place” versus the man whose humility and deep sense of his own littleness lead to him to assume the “last place” until the one who invited him exalts him by offering a seat of honor. God’s discipline (Hebrews 12:7-11) can help us to learn the lesson of humility if we fail to learn it through prayer and study of His word.

We must understand that all mankind will eventually learn the lesson of humility. The question is whether we will learn the lesson now while we still have opportunity to obey our heavenly Father or will we put it off until the day when “every knee shall bow” and “every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10) and those who failed to humble themselves will “shrink away from Him in shame at His coming” (I John 2:28).

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