Humble Ourselves: Taking It Down a Notch

Have you ever felt the need to take things down a notch? Maybe you tend to point out others' weaknesses? Maybe you possess passive aggressive behaviors in order to correct your fellow brother or sister? Have you ever been on the receiving end of such pride? I have and I have. I am guilty and have endured hurtful things from within the body of Christ. It hurts even more than when it comes from someone who is not a believer. Christians should know better. We have to forgive more within the church than outside of the church because of this one fact! There is a fine line we can cross when we are fired up and passionate over something we believe in. A prideful or haughty spirit can be so destructive in our lives.

Rather than getting caught up in life lessons, I am going to share from two books instrumental in developing humility in my character. The first one is the Bible, of course. The other is C.J. Mahaney's "Humility: True Greatness". (Click on the book cover to take a look inside)

There are so many scriptures pointing us to teachings on pride and humility. What we must realize is these things can not coexist. We either walk with a humble, contrite spirit or with a prideful, haughty spirit. Anyone familiar with Jesus' character and His teachings is equipped in knowing why humility always prevails.

As the Apostle Paul teaches us about maintaining unity in the body of Christ, he says, "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Paul said, "Be completely humble." He did not say, "Be somewhat humble." Humility produces even greater virtues and is a progressive attribute in our character of Christlikeness; humility leads to gentleness, which in turn leads to patience and from patience to love, which finally leads to unity. Humility is foreign to us because our world exalts power, pride, and money. Society tends to view humility as weakness. When, according to the Bible, humility is the virtue of the righteous, while pride is the mentality of the ungodly.

When it comes to relationships where dissention and conflict are present, there is no unity in the spirit. We can pray for and talk about unity all we want, but without humility on someone's part, this is simply not possible. A humble heart will diffuse the conflict by bringing gentleness into the circumstance. Then patience and love will manifest, ultimately leading to unity in the spirit. See, I mention the heart. It is all about the condition of the heart.

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives...That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:1-3,6)

1 Peter 5:5 says, "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’"

God wants to show us our weakness so we will humble ourselves and become dependent on him. His grace is sufficient in our humility. Our greatest biblical heroes were only exalted after living destitute, persecuted, and mistreated.

"...Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground." (Hebrews 11:32-38)

Then there is Jesus...

Let's just take a very brief look at the life of Christ, from His birth to His crucifixion. Our savior came into this world, birthed in a manger, in a stable, among shepherds. He was not born and wrapped in fine linen; he was wrapped in the cloth of a shepherd. Jesus gave up his heavenly glory to be born in the most humble way, as a baby in a manger. Jesus became flesh, with all of its weaknesses, to become a friend to sinners. And in the end, Jesus gave his life for his creation.



If our desire is to truly, genuinely walk like Jesus did, we must not embrace pride. Other things are birthed from pride, including arrogance, haughtiness, jealousy, envy, control, manipulation, and so many other ungodly characteristics. If you have even a trace of pride bleeding into your relationships, lay it down at the cross, on your face if you have to. For me, I had to do this daily, for several weeks! There were disciplines I learned from reading Mahaney's book. Here are his suggestions on how to weaken pride and cultivate humility:

ALWAYS:
Reflect on the wonder of the cross of Christ

AS EACH DAY BEGINS:

Begin your day by acknowledging your dependence upon God and your need for God

Begin your day expressing gratefulness to God

Practice the spiritual disciplines - prayer, study God's Word, worship. Do this consistently each day and at the day's outset, if possible.

Seize your commute time to memorize and meditate on scripture

Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you

AS EACH DAY ENDS:

At the end of the day, transfer the glory to God

Before going to sleep, receive this gift of sleep from God and acknowledge His purpose for sleep

FOR SPECIAL FOCUS:

Study the attributes of God; Study the doctrines of grace; Study the doctrine of sin; Play golf as much as possible (what?); Laugh often, and laugh often at yourself

THROUGHOUT YOUR DAYS & WEEKS:

Identify evidence of grace in others; Encourage and serve others each and every day; Invite and pursue correction; Respond humbly to trials

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. ~ Psalm 19:14