Be humble; fear God, love and respect everyone. Seek the good of others at all times and remain teachable.

Humility comes before honor. And I think that when the Bible says that pride leads to destruction 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.

There is a strong connection between humility and submission. Submission requires subordination, subjection, obedience, yielding which are all expressions of humility. To successfully submit to an authority, humility is needed. I believe that unlike humility which we are expected to express towards God and all men, submission is contextual.

The 2 drivers for expressing humility in our relationships; the fear of the Lord (relating to God) and walking in agape (relating with others).

Background

Humility is often misunderstood. If someone asked you a direct question; say, ‘Elyse, are you humble?‘ what would your response be? Yes/No/Not Sure/I think so/ etc…. 🙂 Now that is something to consider….

Early this year, I said to one of my ‘elders’ … ‘I admire your humility, that is something I’ll be learning from you this year‘.

Honestly, that sounded really good to me, but even as I said it, I wasn’t really sure what it meant. Truth? there were aspects of this person’s life that one may not really judge as ‘humble’.

So here I am, desiring to learn humility and yet not fully understanding what humility truly means…

Hey, it’s Friday!!!

Welcome to a brand new study series on my blog; Bible Perspectives on Humility. I trust God that this series will be refreshing, exciting, instructive, …and humbling.

Study Scope

In this study series, among other things we will look at;

Definitions of humility (dictionary and biblical), false humility, relationship between humility and obedience, who to be humble to, benefits of being humble, results of prideful living.

Introduction

Humility is a virtue every Christian should strive for. Three immediate benefits of combining humility with the fear of the Lord are riches, honor and a long life (Proverbs 2:24).

“True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life.” Proverbs 22:4. NLT

In Mathew 11:29 Jesus admonishes us to be lowly in heart, just as He is. According to Jesus, this manner of living will helps keep our soul at rest (….I will think that is because you do not have anything to prove to anyone).

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29 NKJV

A lowly person is someone who is humble in manner and spirit. This suggests that humility is more of the state of the mind more than an outward demeanor.

In Philippians 2:5, Paul, citing Jesus as an example shows that humility when done properly, does lead to elevation or exaltation.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11

So, humility is a noble trait, as having a lowly estimation of oneself leads to elevation, exaltation, riches, honor and long life.

I already love humility! But what exactly is it?

What Is Humility?

Dictionary Definition of humility

Humility is the quality of having a modest or low view of one’s importance. It is meekness, lowliness and absence of self. Humble people appreciate little things, they respect others and are open to other viewpoints and ideas, they keep their success, accomplishments and achievements in perspective, they acknowledge their mistakes and limitations, they take responsibility for their actions, they listen more and talk less, they do not go around saying they are humble.

Some synonyms for humility are; modesty, meekness, lowliness, submissiveness, diffidence.

Some antonyms for humility include; pride, self-importance, arrogance, haughtiness, etc

So, what do you think? How do you score based on this dictionary definition of humility? Poor/Fair/Good/Excellent? 🙂

One important thing to clarify at this point is that having a low view of oneself should never be interpreted as being a pauper, a beggar, an unimportant or irrelevant person. To humble oneself does not mean to have low self esteem neither does it mean to suffer from rejection or insecurity. There is liberty/freedom where the Spirit of The Lord is.

Every child of God has been bought by the precious priceless blood of Jesus Christ, and as such is royalty, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own ‘peculiar people’. You are like a Lamp on a Lampstand.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”
I Peter 2:9 NKJV

Humility is a state of the mind, and not just an outward demeanor. Someone can be outwardly humble and yet arrogant and prideful in their thoughts and actions as shown by their decisions and choices.

It is also important to note that this dictionary definition of humility essentially focuses on a view of oneself relative to others. And depending on how you look at it, this definition may seem somewhat tilted more towards describing a group of persons with some form of real or perceived achievement, accomplishment, worth, value, etc, who inspite of that, are humble (…just an observation).

Question: Can a poor person be arrogant? Can an uneducated person be prideful? Can someone without any significant worth, talent or achievement (by the world’s standard and ranking) be arrogant?

I leave you with these thoughts. In the next part, we consider Bible meanings of humility.