Helps for humility
- Jacob Ninan
Many times it is pride that makes us do things wrong, in relation to God and to people. We act as though we are someone special with God and take liberties with His commandments. We deal with other people as though we are superior, without caring about how it would affect them and how they would feel. It is humility that can change this type of attitude and behaviour.
God provides things which are needed for earthly life even to wicked people (Mt.5:45). But life changing blessings can come from God only when we are humble, because God opposes the proud and gives grace only to the humble (Jas.4:6).
Being humble is not the same as doing humble things. For example, we can say, "I am sorry," because that is the socially acceptable thing to do. But it may be just an act we put on. Or we may do something 'humble' such as sweeping the floor when other people are watching. But humility is an attitude of our heart. It is seen basically in what we think about ourselves in secret, and then it also decides how we behave on the outside.
I would suggest that there are three things we could address towards growing in humility. Becoming humble takes time, and we need to grow in it all our life.
Think about where we have come from. If we have been born again, we have been brought from sin to life, from being a child of Satan to being a child of God, from despair to hope, from purposeless drifting to a goal driven life, from confusion and chaos to peace and rest, etc. Who has done this? Not we, but the grace of God.
Think of what we are. Do we think that what we have today such as money, position, reputation, skills, etc., is from our own making? No. Acknowledge God (1Co.4:7). On the other hand, if we are conscious of our lacks in these areas, can't we think of what gives us true worth - our acceptance by God?
Think of our dependence on God. Our life on earth is so uncertain in many respects. The only thing we can be certain of is our death, if Jesus does not come before that. We are dependent on God for every part of our life.
Think over these things frequently. Take time to do that. Do you see that humility is essentially to acknowledge God in every part of our life?