Humility is often a dirty word among many Christians. None of us like the idea of having to humble ourselves before anyone. This is especially true when we think of having to stand before authority figures. The idea that we humble ourselves before God often doesn’t fit with trends that, in some ways, often attempt to place us on the same level with God. As human beings, we didn’t create ourselves. We aren’t the same as God, and we all face situations where we can’t handle what stares us down. These matters are either too intimidating, troubling, painful, scary, hard, or difficult to confront on our own. Inevitably, something will come some way beyond our reason and powers to address.
It’s at these junctures that God steps in our lives and shows Himself to be God, without apology. He does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. In this process, we learn the important value of humility.
What is humility?
As human beings, we love to show off our skills and powers of reasoning. We want others to know we can take on the day and do it better than anyone else. Whether it’s participation in hustle culture or just the vanity that we can do it all by ourselves, we love the idea of being able to solve everything ourselves. Whether problems, issues, or assessing any number of situations, we take pride in the idea that everything is within our reach.
When we reach the end of our rope and can’t handle challenges, our universal temptation is to give up. I’ve been there. In fact, I’ll admit I’ve been there many times in my faith journey. Sometimes answered prayers lead to even more new challenges and situations that reveal our personal limitations. Far from being situations where we become larger than life, they often make us feel even more limited.
This is where humility steps in. Humility is realizing our personal limitations, whatever they may be. They’re part of human experience. Whether we are humbled before human authorities, peers, or before God, it’s the point where we embrace who we are, especially through flaws. Simply put, humility is esteeming ourselves properly, especially in light of limitations.
Why does humility matter?
in 2 Corinthians 12:9, the Apostle Paul relates an experience he had with his “thorn in the flesh.” Whatever that “thorn” was, we don’t know for certain. We do know that Paul believed, by divine revelation, that his thorn was designed to keep him humble:
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (NIV)
In other words, the Apostle Paul realized something essential about humility. In his weaknesses, God had the power to move. At his lowest and most difficult points, God moved through him with empowerment. It’s the opposite of the self-sufficient, independence myth. Where Paul knew he was weak, he learned all the more that God is strong.
In humility, we learn to let God move within and through us. We learn it’s not all about ourselves, our capabilities, or our talents or gifts. While these things can be great with proper perspective, they can also be sources of vanity and pride if we don’t learn to temper them properly. The more faith we have, the more we realize we can’t do this thing on our own. Humility is essential for this reason.
Faith and humility
These places are precisely the point where faith enters the picture. The point is that we can’t do something, but God can do it. Our limitations are a humble reminder that we can do all things through Christ, but we cannot do all things in and of ourselves. It’s important to be competent, it’s great that we can handle things that come our way, but walking with God is about something different than that. It’s not about what we can do on our own, but about what God can do through us when we are willing, ready, and able to allow Him to do so.
Humility is one of the hardest aspects of faith for us. God brings us to a point where we are face-to-face with every limitation we have and makes us accept ourselves as fallible. When we say God is our provider, healer, deliverer, that means we are acknowledging those are things we cannot do for ourselves, no matter how competent, intelligent, or “earthly good” we may be.
One of the reasons why faith often proves challenging is because we don’t want to accept our limitations. Allowing God to work in our lives in a transforming way means we give up stubborn pride and yield to His direction.
The challenge
Many of us let God in just enough to where we think it will make a difference in our lives. We try to ride both sides of the fence. God, however, mandates we pick one side or the other. If we want to be powerful in faith, we must be humble. Blessings aren’t found if we try to do everything our way, even if we attempt it in the Name of Jesus. His promise, His joy, His peace, everything He provides – is located at the center of His will, wherein we walk in complete faith. No matter what we see, no matter how we may feel about what is ahead for us, no matter what we don’t see in the natural, faith is about learning to let God work within us and trusting that He knows many, many things we don’t.
It’s a blessing – and an honor – to be able to believe in God via relationship with Him that transforms us to a new level of faith and hope, in season and out. Faith is not just about things. It is also about being a part of God’s plan, even when you do not understand it (right now). If we are willing to be humble, we will see God’s work in our lives through an entirely different light.
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