At church this weekend, it seemed that all of the songs were about the “bigness” of God. And one of the main themes of the sermon was fearing God — understanding our smallness in relation to His greatness and giving credit where credit is due. It was a good way to kick off my month of humility.
Humility is something we all long for (both for ourselves and in others), but there is so little of it actually displayed in the world. I think we see so much bravado and false humility that it’s really hard to tell when someone is truly humble. When a football player scores a touchdown, does a celebratory end-zone dance, body slams his teammates, and then says, “It’s all God, man, It’s all God,” it’s hard to take that humility seriously.
Not to mention the American mentality that we are the greatest nation in the world, that anyone here can do anything, that a person can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and do great things. It’s hard for us to even consider that perhaps we have been able to accomplish things in our lives because God has given us the ability.
It’s hard for us to give God the credit, because that means admitting we’re subject to His will. And it’s really difficult to admit we’re not the top dog around here. We don’t like to admit we’re not in control of everything. Oh, how I like to be in control!
Humility does not come easy to me. I can be a very proud person when it comes to what I’ve accomplished in this life. It’s not a big, loud pride, but more of a careful management of my good image. Pride is sneaky — it’s not always obvious. But I think of all things, pride is one of my biggest struggles.
And we all know what comes after pride…
In my estimation, there are two ways of being humble. One, you recognize your place in the grand scheme of things, understanding how little you are in comparison to the greatness of God. Or, God can humble you.
For me, I want to be like Jesus in my humility. I want to be a servant like he was. I want everything I do to point to God. So, this month I try to recognize my place a little more, and make sure God is glorified in the process.
You are correct. By beholding Jesus we change. He takes away our stoney heart and gives us a new heart of flesh. It is a miracle and when we become like Jesus the humility will come. It’s the daily communication that we need. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. Love your posts. Thank you.
“by beholding Jesus we change.” <–truer words were never spoken!