Glory’s Hope!

HUMILITY

Matthew 18: 3 “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”.  We don’t hear much preaching about humility today, but Jesus said that without it we will never enter the kingdom of heaven!  The Gospel of Mark refers to it as the kingdom of God, because he was not writing to Jews as was Matthew so he was not hindered in the usage of God’s name.  Either way, the kingdom is the kingdom and entering it is the beginning of eternal life – we will not spend eternity with God if we do not enter His kingdom while here on earth!  It sounds to me like humility is crucial!

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” – 1 Peter 5:5.  If there’s one thing I know, I do not want to be opposed by my Father!  I want to dwell in His presence all the time and walk out His purpose for me by His grace.  God’s grace is what empowers us to walk in the true identity He created us with.  Knowing our identity as children of God is vital to our relationship with our Father, and part of that identity is humility.  Jesus Himself, THE Son of God was the perfect example of humility.  He modeled this as a servant leader when He washed His disciples feet – what a picture!  When we serve others, we are actually showing that whatever “dirt” they may have from places they’ve gone and things they’ve done is washed away, and we are helping to enable them to go and do what God has for them – to walk out their calling.  Of course Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is the greatest example of humility – And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross – Philippians 2:8.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall – Proverbs 16:18.  If we walk in pride, we will fall and be destroyed, but if we humble ourselves before the Lord and man, He will exalt us.  Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you – 1 Peter 5:6.   The Apostle Paul says in Romans 12:3 – For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.  Jesus said in Matthew 11:29 – 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.  He was saying that if we receive His humble teaching, we will rest in Him.  Every day can be a day of rest in our humble Lord Jesus!  It’s always the proud who work from a place of striving, rather than a place of rest.  They boast of their own accomplishments, but these things will be burned up like wood, hay or straw…  If we work from a place of rest in Christ Jesus, we will be empowered by His grace to accomplish what He asks and it will be easy.  Like gold, silver and precious stones, it will not be burned up because it is built on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ!

There are many, many more scriptures concerning humility.  It is clear in Scripture that even though we ought to be confident in our heavenly Father’s love for us and who He created us to be, it is not by anything we have done or anything we can boast about.  We are who we are by the grace of God and His strength being made perfect in our weakness.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us – 2 Cor.4:7.  Thank you Jesus for accomplishing for us what no one else ever could!