Humility is an important concept to grasp, and it’s an important virtue for us to foster.
The opposite of humility, as we all know, is pride. Pride was behind the downfall of many a ruler and nation in the Old Testament. The sin of pride was what brought down Lucifer in Genesis, and it’s worked its destructive power on creation ever since.
Before we try to focus on ways to be more humble, let's take a look at what humility is and—just as importantly—what it isn’t.
How Humility Shapes Our Views of Others
The Mirriam-Webster dictionary defines humility as “being free of pride or arrogance.” That’s not such a great definition: it tells us what humility is not, but fails to to tell us what it is. It's the world’s definition.
The Biblical view of humility is different. One resource online — www.christianbiblereference.org — summed humility up pretty well: “humility or humbleness is a quality of being courteously respectful of others” 1 and showing a fear and reverence of God. C.S. Lewis put it in more practical terms when he wrote, “humility is not thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less.”
Humility is not synonymous with self-abasement. If we are being humble as Christians, it doesn’t mean that we spend all our time telling God and every else around us that we are miserable creatures that don’t deserve to
draw another breath.
Quite the contrary.
Humble Christians are secure in their redeemed nature and in the love of the Father. They are comfortable in the knowledge of who they are in the Lord. They approach God with reverence and awe, and they acknowledge that each person created in His image is imbued with personal dignity and should be treated with respect.
Now, if that’s the attitude that we should be trying to foster within ourselves, how should we treat God? First, we must remember who He is and who we are.
This is a little saying that my wife and I like to use when we’re in danger of being a little arrogant about the amount of power we think we possess in certain situations. We tell ourselves, and each other, occasionally: “God is God, and I am not.” Although a simple little phrase, it’s a great reminder that God is the Almighty One, and not us. It helps us remember that—while we are loved and redeemed—we are not God. That is where humility starts.
How Humility Changes the Way We Treat Others
Our humility should also be front and center whenever we deal with other people, especially when we don’t agree with them. God made each and every person on this planet, and—because they were created in His image—we are to afford them love and respect.
That doesn’t mean that we have to agree with everything that they say or do. Far from it. There are a lot of folks today who say some pretty ridiculous things. Some say hateful things. Some even say blasphemous things. Obviously, we’re not supposed to agree with those who speak contrary to God’s teachings.
What it does mean, though, is that we can approach our differences with love and respect for the other person. God told us to love our enemies. When we speak the truth to them in love and humility, who knows? We might actually win someone over to Christ.
When we act out of our pride and arrogance, though, we’re not likely to win anyone over. Sadly, that is often our going-in position when we find ourselves in conflict with others. Our natural tendency is to vilify the opposition, to demean their position and to adopt a condescending view about their belief structure.
That’s not how we’re supposed to treat nonbelievers. Jesus never did. Jesus could be gentle and uncompromising at the same time. He was respectful to the person, but unyielding about the truths of God. Jesus won over his followers. He didn’t
bludgeon them into submission. If anyone had a right to be forceful, it was Him.
But Jesus personified humility. Secure of who He was, He acted with love and compassion for those who were not believers. (He did have a few choice words to say to those Pharisees and Sadducees who taught one thing and acted another, but
that’s a wholly different lesson.)
God Calls Us to Be Humble
That attitude of humility is summed up in the two Great Commandments: love God with all your heart, mind and soul; and love
your neighbor as yourself.
We know the attitude that we should have. What does that attitude look like when we are dealing with others? Humility looks much the same way as love is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
If we act the way that Paul advises, we will lead more humble lives. Indeed, love and humility are very closely related. It’s tough to have one without the other.
If we lead humble, loving lives, we are quicker to listen and slower to speak. (James 1:19) We boast more of other’s successes than our own. We look for valid points in opposing viewpoints, rather condemn them entirety out of hand. We speak the truth in joy, even while we are aware that God’s truth may be very difficult for some to accept. We bear one another’s burdens. We endure the hardships that other people’s sins can create in our own lives with patience and love.
We, in short, live a life in keeping with a prayer written by St. Francis of Assisi, and I ask that you pray it today, carefully reflecting on each line.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
That’s one great prayer, don’t you think? The trick is, though, to live out what we just prayed. Maybe it would help if we prayed that prayer every morning before we went out into the cold, cruel world to remind us exactly how God would have us act to everyone that we encounter. After all, our actions should never be shaped by how others treat us. They should be shaped by how God treats us. Let’s act as kingdom ambassadors today and tomorrow and all the tomorrows to come.
Let’s act in love, clothed in humility.
