Bible Study
Benefits of Humility
Humility precedes honor
It’s easy to just say that humility brings honor, but some portions of the Bible carefully states that humility comes before honor.
“The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, And before honor is humility“. Proverbs 15:33 NKJV
“Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, And before honor is humility.” Proverbs 18:12 NKJV
For me, what this means is that it will be difficult to get honor without humility. Honor here means to be regarded with great respect, to be held in high esteem, to acquire a great reputation, to receive a {high} rank, to be considered to be of inestimable value…..
As we already saw in previous parts of this study, particularly, Parts I and II, humility means having a modest view of one’s importance, it means meekness, lowliness and absence of self. Examples in the the Bible point to godliness, trusting in the Lord, having the fear of the Lord (reverencing Him), loving others unconditionally, acting in obedience and submission to God and constituted authorities, leaning on God, praying to God, turning to God for help, being lowly and meek.
The above explains true humility which we contrasted against a false one in Part IV
Humility comes before honor. And I think that when the Bible says that pride leads to destruction (as we saw in Part V), one of the contributing factors to this is becoming frustrated at not being honored (as one would expect). I recognize that destruction can mean different things, but probably a central feature to it would be not achieving one’s full potential.
Riches and prosperity
“And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness; And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.” Psalms 45:4 NKJV
“By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.” Proverbs 22:4 NKJV
I find Psalm 45:4, as a very insightful verse. It identifies 3 things leading up to ‘riding prosperously‘; truth, humility and righteousness.
The Word of God is Truth, it is fixed, constant, unchanging, it is available to us at all times. All we really have to do have the Word is to apply ourselves to reading, studying, meditating, accepting and acting on it.
True righteousness, has nothing to do with works or human ability, it is a gift from God received through faith (Mathew 5:20, Luke 18:9, Galatians 5:5, Romans 5:18, Philippians 3:9). On the other hand, throughout this study, we see ‘humble yourself’, ‘put on humility’, ‘be humble’, etc. It is true that ultimately we depend on the Holy Spirit to help us act in humility, however, to do it successfully, requires our first recognizing the need for it and second, subjecting ourselves to acting humbly.
Having been made the righteousness of God through Christ, and having received and proclaimed the Word of God as our truth, acting humbly in addition we are set for prosperity and riches.
Humility leads to promotion
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” I Peter 5:6 NKJV
“Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:4 NKJV
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” James 4:10 NKJV
“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11 NKJV
Gives you an advantage in unfavorable circumstances
“in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth” II Timothy 2:25 NKJV
“to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.” Titus 3:2 NLT
“Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” Proverbs 16:24
Attracts goodwill and favor
“The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.” Psalms 25:9 NKJV
“For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks.” Psalms 18:27 NKJV
“For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.” Psalms 149:4 NKJV
“Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble.” Proverbs 3:34 NKJV
Wisdom and Long life are benefits of being humble
“When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.” Proverbs 11:2 NKJV
“By humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches and honor and life.” Proverbs 22:4 NLT
Friends, this is indeed a virtue to be desired by all. Everything good we could ever become in this life depends on our humility towards God and man.
I have been thoroughly blessed doing this study, I trust God that it has blessed you as well.
Join me in the next part as we conclude.
Love Always.
