Humility

1 Peter 5:6 NIV Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

 

James 4:10 NIV Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

 

Some days the conversations in my car are weird and humorous and delirious from exhaustion. Then there are mornings where we get to just have words of God.  Today was a word of God day.  Just a brief interaction about humility.  I truly am blessed with amazing kids and they both are wise and very attractive.  But the most beautiful part of both of them is their compassionate hearts.  Such different personalities but such sweet spirits. 

 

Talking with my son this morning reminded me of how important it is that we humble ourselves.  I once heard a pastor say he was told never to ask God to be humbled that the humbling should start with us and both the verses above are very clear that we are to humble ourselves.  What does that mean and how do we do that?  I can't tell you a step by step guide to humility but I can tell you what I know to be true to me.  Humility doesn't mean self deprecation, low self esteem or being the doormat for the world. 

 

Humility starts with God.  If we don't first love God then we don't understand how deeply we are loved.  God loves us beyond anything we can imagine and once we recognize that we are loved and worthy of love then we can love ourselves and then others as ourselves.  When we love others we recognize that we can't be selfish or put ourselves first.  Loving people takes humility.  It means we don't think we are better than them or different than them - it means we recognize we are all broken and worthy of love.  So don't wait to be lifted up in this world for your great achievements - in humility love so that God will lift you up in His time.