Humility
Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time…
1 Peter 5:5-6 (NKJV)
Humility is a scarce commodity. We cannot buy it. It is a characteristic Christians receive from Jesus and develop as we share our lives with him. When we look at the world we see the arrogance and pride of many successful people and powerful leaders. Eventually they die and are forgotten.
In the book of Daniel there is a powerful example of a great King, Nebuchadnezzar, who was given a dream of an image made of gold, bronze, silver and iron (Daniel 2:31-33). Daniel showed him that the head of gold represented the king and the kingdom of Babylon. The silver, the bronze and the iron were inferior kingdoms that followed. Then the king said to Daniel, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” (Daniel 2:47).
But he quickly forgot those words, built a huge image of gold and commanded all to “…fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up…” and whoever disobeyed this command would be cast into a burning fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:5-6).
Daniel and his three friends disobeyed the command but God protected them and they were not hurt in the furnace (vv.19-25). When Nebuchadnezzar saw that ‘the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them’ (v.27), he declared, “…there is no other God who can deliver like this.” (v.29).
But Nebuchadnezzar was still proud, saying “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30). And because of his pride God reduced him to being like an animal for seven years.
King Nebuchadnezzar learnt lessons the hard way. I too have learnt the lesson from the above example, which reminds me of a scripture in Isaiah 66:1-2, where the Lord says, “…Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool, Where is the house that you will build Me?…For all those things My hand has made… ”. Looking at the vast universe, I consider myself very insignificant and am humbled that God has extended His grace to me.
True humility can only come from God and we have the ultimate example of humility demonstrated by the Creator of the universe, the Lord Jesus Christ: ‘Who, being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!’ (Philippians 2:6-8 NIV). God wants us to have the same mindset as Jesus (v.5). This is the humility we receive as Christ lives in us: ‘…and the life which [we] now live in the flesh [we] live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved [us], and gave himself for [us]. (Galatians 2:20 KJV).
Prayer
Abba Father, thank you for your teaching about living a life of humility. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Study by Natu Moti
Natu Moti is a Deacon in the Birmingham congregation of Grace Communion International.
Local congregation:
Gracecom Birmingham
All Saints Church
George Road
Birmingham B23 7QB
Meeting time:
Saturday 1pm
Local congregational contact:
David Gibbs
Email: birmingham@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church