HUMILITY 101

Pastor Harry pointed out how God cares for us while also highlighting several admonitions contained in 1 Peter 5 this past Sunday, one of which was from verse 5 (ESV), Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Here are some tips on cultivating humility:

(1) Assess yourself honestly.  Humility is not the same as low self-esteem.  Being humble does not mean you think you have nothing to offer.  It means that you know exactly what you have to offer and no more.

(2) Don’t take success too seriously.  Deuteronomy 8 (NKJV) 10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. 11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 

(3) Celebrate the significance of others.  We read in Philippians 2:3 that, in humility, consider others better than yourself.  Every touchdown in life is a team effort.  We rarely complete the triple play by ourselves.  Applaud your teammates.  

(4) Live at the foot of the cross.  Galatians 6:14 advises that the only reason for boasting is because of Christ dying on the cross.

Jesus invites us to a life of humility in Matthew 23 (NKJV) 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

We know that we ought to be humble, we sometimes just don’t know if it is all that desirable. 

If we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us, then we will cease to be preoccupied with ourselves.  Only then can we love God and love others as ourselves.

Actually, humility brings a kind of relief.  We can then stop being who we are not and are free to be what God intended.  When we stop worrying about what others think about us, where we fit in, and how we can achieve success by behaving in a certain way, then we are free to live the life we have always secretly wanted.