Mark 8:34, ‘34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.’
Humility is not just one of the virtues/characteristics that we can have, it is our way of living as a disciple of Jesus.
Andrew Murray says in His book, ‘Humility’ – we don’t realize how important ‘Humility’ is, it can be seen in 3 ways:
- The awareness that we are created by God. – We are mortals. We are under the authority of God. We humble ourselves before an Almighty God.
- The awareness of our sinfulness – How often we fail God. Every time we fail, we get disappointed, sad, — way of feeling humble.
- Emptying ourselves of everything we have, of our ‘self’ and letting God fill us with His power and let His own humility fill us and let that humility flow from us.
Philippians 2:5 -8, ‘5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.’
Here we see, Jesus
- Emptied Himself
- Took the form of a bond-servant, became like a man
- He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death
Let us also empty ourselves and follow Him. Br. Zac says in ‘Living as Jesus lived’, ‘to the disciples of Jesus, the greatness of Jesus is not primarily seen in the ‘wonders of universe’, but rather in His ‘Humility’, that the son of man had in himself’. The universe, everything is in perfect order and is so grand. But the greatest thing that Jesus showed us, is ‘His Humility’. Let us apply into our spiritual life. When we are born – again, we receive the Holy Spirit, God starts to work in our hearts, we begin to see changes in our hearts, that is not the end. We need to empty ourselves, like an empty vessel and God will come into us and dwell in our hearts and His power and goodness should manifest through our lives, continuously. Because of this, humility is a most important virtue above everything. As we grow in the Lord, we begin to desire this virtue in our lives.
V3, ‘3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;’ As we hear from Br. Zac, we tend to understand in worldly perspective, that ‘Humility’ or ‘Submission’ is a lowly thing, to be below someone, but Bible says, ‘you can be equal before God, and still submit to each other’. The only way we can submit to each other is by dying to our ‘self’ and obedience to God.
1 Peter 5:6 , ‘6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,’ ‘Submission’ is not only to submitting ourselves to God’s will but it also includes dying to our ‘self’ too, when we are together as a Church or a family, as the Family is a subset of the Church, we learn to submit to each other.
Ephesians 5:21, ‘21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.’
Colossians 3:12, ‘12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;’ As we grow in Him, God wants us to grow in these virtues, beginning with – ‘put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. It is like we are putting on Lord Jesus Christ, His nature that we can put on.
Romans 12:10, ‘0 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;’ Jesus made us as His brothers and sisters. Being in the body of Christ, God saved us and our families and He put us together in the body of Christ, we should see each other, as a family not as an individual by himself. We are like one body, we need to yield to one another and be able to encourage one another, as needed. This ‘encouraging one another’ role is there for every member of the body of Christ. We need to give preference to one another in honor. Honoring the person in the body of Christ, as someone who is a brother/sister of Jesus.’ 16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.’ Let us associate with ‘someone who we think as lowly’ and let us not think too high of ourselves in the body of Christ. Let us value each other as very important members of Body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:2, ‘2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,’ As a family, being a subset of the Church, we can learn to practice this, exactly how God wanted us to be, in the ‘body of Christ’.
Even when we are given a position of Leadership, the ‘Humility’ doesn’t end there. We need to have this character or virtue till the end. As we see in, Mark 10:43, 45, ‘43 But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Jesus Himself is saying here that whoever wishes to be great among you, shall be your servant. Jesus came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. This is the life we need to live as His disciples. Without humility, we go astray.
Proverbs 14:1, ‘The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish tears it down with her own hands.’ There is a glory in Submission as we see in Jesus. Submission to each other, even among the elders, helps in the growth of the body of Christ, as the other members also see and learn from their elders and we all can follow Jesus, who was the humblest man on earth.
Matthew 11:29, ‘9 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’ Jesus says that ‘He is gentle and humble in heart, take my yoke upon you and learn from me’. As we walk with Him, we shall be humble just like, He was humble.
Matthew 5:3,5, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’. 5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth’ Let us grow in ‘Humility’. Our Growth comes from God. Let us learn from Him.
John 13:14, ‘14 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.’ He meant spiritually that we need to be able to wash others feet and let others also wash our feet as well. There is a humility in both the ways – In serving others and in willingness of letting others serve us. we need to grow in both ways. We should not hinder others from serving us, thinking ‘I am ok’ – this is also an aspect of humility we need to grow in.
John 5:19, ‘19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner’. Here is Jesus, who was perfect but He had to empty Himself and let the Father work through Him.
30 “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.’ This is how Jesus lived. He just kept emptying Himself, letting God, to work through Him. His only motto on earth was, ‘not to do His own will but the will of Him, the Father, who sent Him on this earth’.
Let us develop the desire to grow in humility and to be able to fulfill that part of God’s will for us in our lives.
Praise God.
