What comes to mind when we think of humility? Someone weak? A person who lets everyone run over them? An impossible state of being? What is true humility and what is simply putting yourself down in hopes someone else will tell you how wonderful you are?
When we think of humility as Christians, we know Jesus as the perfect example. What we may not think of are the reasons He was like He was. Absolutely, He had every right to be exalted by the world. Instead He choose to start out His story different from the moment it happened. Unwed mother. Stable birth. Fleeing from a king instead of a childhood home. Growing up always different. Put to death in the most cruel, humiliating way possible.
You may know all of this, it may have been told to you over and over with the ending of “because Jesus loved us so much.”
What strikes me is this: Jesus did this because His Heavenly Father asked Him to. He lived and died for the glory of God. Just like in growing up, His death wasn’t for accolades or attention. He didn’t die so we, as imperfect creations, could tell Him how amazing He was for the rest of eternity. It was for obedience, and in being obedient, He needed to humble himself to our level. He had to, what would this story hold for our hearts and minds if Jesus grew up in a castle with servants and died at 90 in a gold bathtub? And yet, He easily could have and instead chose to obey.
Yes, Jesus died for our sins and to set us free from the rules and regulations we are still so bound by. But this act was in complete obedience to what He was sent to earth to accomplish. When we think of how and why He died, our thoughts should be on how amazing it was He could follow the path set for Him to the very end, even while we turned our backs on Him and He had His heart break for us.
Jesus was the very definition of humble. He was able to say no when He needed, to put others first each time He could, to obey His father at the cost of His life, and to set aside His own ego to accomplish what no one else could ever do.
What a Savior. What an amazing example of perfect humility.
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33 thoughts on "humility"
I love the clarification that Jesus didn’t do what He did for the glory, even though He deserves it. He did it out of obedience to the Father. I need to redefine succeeds as obedience! Every time I say yes to Holy Spirit and obey, I am successful in the eyes of God. Lord, grant me the grace to do this.
What love our father has that he would send his son to save us! And in his obedience and humility our sins are forgiven…THANK YOU JESUS!
I hope and pray that I may be more like you and bring people around me to see YOUR AWESOME LOVE.
Last December God brought me to today's Song of Ascents, Psalm 131. And, while I don't have a song for this one, I DO have what I wrote as a blog post last year, when the Holy Spirit had me start considering these verses. The content of that blog post said:
"O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me,
But I have calmed and queited my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
– Psalm 131:1-2 (ESV)
These verses have been on my heart and I’ve been thinking about them quite a bit lately, especially verse 2.
As a mum who has breast-fed – and, subsequently, weaned – four children, this is a picture I can relate to: the image of a weaned child with its mother.
The weaned child is content in the mother’s presence without having to be on the breast when there is something that troubles them. The child is now able to comfort itself when things are bothering them – the parenting experts call it “self-soothing”. While there was a time that whatever the traumatic event (or perceived trauma) was, from getting an immunisation to a bump on the head or just feeling out of sorts, would result in the necessity of the child being latched on until the calming effect of nursing would take place (for THERE WOULD BE NO CONSOLING WITHOUT IT!), now the child is capable of calming itself down.
I don’t think this is a picture of us no longer needing God when we ‘grow up’ a bit. On the contrary, I think it’s a picture of how we should be when faced with things that would send us into fits of despair. Our aim should be to reach the place of maturity where we can tell our own souls to calm down, reminding ourselves that God loves us and is in control, and place ourselves in a place of prayer where we can receive the peace that passes all understanding, as we wait upon God (see Philippians 4:6-7).
I can admit I have not reached this place. I am still a very unweaned child – sometimes falling to bits, unconsolable in the face of pressures and stresses. But, my prayer is to become like this weaned child with its mother, able to calm and quiet my own soul.
The psalmist David often talked to his own soul – encouraging himself – to calm and quiet down and trust/wait upon the Lord (Ps 42, 43, 103).
This Ps 131:2 is simply the latest scripture to drive home the point to me. The picture of the weaned child is one I hold in my heart and aspire to fully become."
(link to the actual blog post is here: http://wordsofautumn.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/the… )
Now, today, these months later, I don't feel any more weaned than I was then. In light of today's devotional, I see that when I get worked up and do not quiet my soul it comes back to those issues of pride and doubt. Humility trusts and there is trust in humility.
So, yeah… this weaning thing, for me, is still very much a work in progress.
I like what you said as far as what it means to be like "a weaned child" – I wasn't quite sure what he was getting at, using that as an analogy, but the way you stated it makes perfect sense!
Sorry please watch and listen to this song above very moving.
beautiful
Agreed. Very beautiful! Wow!
Thank you for this message today. God bless you all ladies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detai…
You had me sober till the golden bathtub part. Then you had me sober again. So thankful for the gift of an example that Jesus laid down for us to follow. In case y’all are wondering why/when I dropped off the face of the earth, I’ve been busy up to my neck with exams BUT I’ve been following through on devo, just hardly ever get the time to come on here to read your stories and insights.
Blessings on all of you. Love you oh so dearly.
Praying you through exams!!! Good luck!!
You have no idea how liberating it is to read those words, "He was able to say no when He needed.." because it puts into perspective for me that to be humble does not mean one needs to be passive or a people pleaser. Thank you for reminding me of that as this is something I am working on in my life; to not look for the approval of others and that it is alright to say no when I need to.
I really needed to hear this. Thank you. Jesus is truly inspiring.