The way up is down

One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor - Proverbs 29:23

If there is one theme in the book of Proverbs, it is this: pride is a prerequisite for failure, and humility is a prerequisite for success. I heard someone once say that pride is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick except the one who has it. Whether this statement is true or not, God promises that the person who is infected with pride will ultimately fail and the person who demonstrates humility will ultimately succeed.

Let's take a moment and set aside our preconceived ideas about humility and try to gain a more accurate understanding of what humility is and what it isn't. The best way to understand humility is to look at its opposite. That is pride.

The definition of pride is the attitude that credits ourselves with our successes and blames others for our failures. The person with pride believes he needs no other people and certainly does not need God. A synonym for pride is arrogance, and the word that this translates from in Hebrew means to grow wide or extensive. The arrogant person has a large estimate of himself and a low estimate of others.

One of the natural results of pride is an attitude of ingratitude. When we assume that every good thing in our lives results from our giftedness, hard work, or just plain dumb luck, we fail to express proper gratitude to God and others.

Another result of pride is independence. Independence is a good thing to a point, but when we deceive ourselves into thinking that we are responsible for our successes, we conclude that we really don't need God or anyone else. By contrast, humility is the attitude that recognizes that any good thing in our life results from what God and other people have done for us.

Let me give you another example of pride: we do things we do not think other people can do. We would say things like I can't trust anyone else to do this or we get in a mindset because others in the past have failed us doing tasks, and we can't trust anyone else to do them. With this mindset, we tend to burn ourselves out and hinder others from service. In contrast to this, humility is that we understand people may fail, but we allow them to help. When we allow them to help, we will help them and ourselves grow in our relationship with God.

What does the Bible say about humility? 

First, we must have an accurate evaluation of ourselves. Romans 12:3 says, "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." 

Paul uses this verse as a launching pad for his discussion of spiritual gifts. God has given everyone a unique gift with which to serve him. It is a two-headed coin. One side is that possessing such a gift should prevent us from feeling like a worthless wretch who cannot do anything right. On the other side, the fact that we don't have all the gifts should remind us that we also need other people. Paul States why we need others in 1 Corinthians 12:15-26. It is perfectly clear we are not meant to do this alone.

Second, we must have an authentic appreciation of others. James 1:17 reads, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." 

Genuine humility is built upon the recognition that every good thing in our life results from what God did or what He did through other people for us. We have a hard time not assigning our success in life to our diligence and determination. I know it's something I struggle with as I moved towards ordination, or as I am trying to do things because of my illness. God helped me and placed wonderful people like My Wife in my life to keep me going.

Another thing that humility is about is having our desires put in their proper place. Philippians 2:3-8 states, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." 

We were told that since we only have a limited amount of time on earth, we should live our lives to the fullest, ensuring we have the fewest regrets possible to reach the end of the line. Everything in our cultural values is designed to bring pleasure and fulfillment to our lives. In contrast, we find life in Jesus Christ, who, Paul said, does not live to please himself. If you want a real, live demonstration of the essence of humility, we can look at the life of Christ. We are never more like Christ than when we are willing to give up our rights and desires to serve him or to assist others.

How can we apply humility in our lives? Let me give you a few biblical ways.

First, admit your mistakes. Proverbs 28:13 states, "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." 

Humility demands that we own up to our mistakes rather than covering them up. We may be scared of the consequences of our errors or assume that acknowledging our faults demonstrates our weaknesses. Solomon did not need to look any further than his father to see the truth of that principle. Despite David's attempt to cover up his sin with Bathsheba, everyone in the kingdom knew what their leader had done. More importantly, God knew. Only when David admitted his mistake did he regain his people's respect and receive God's forgiveness.

The second way to apply humility is to share the credit with others. 1 Kings 8:22 – 23 reads, "Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, and said, "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart"" 

The single most significant accomplishment in Solomon's life was building the temple. It was a massive project that involved thousands of workmen and millions of dollars. However, when the dedication day finally arrived, Solomon was careful not to hog the limelight; instead, he correctly recognized the one most responsible for their project's success. Ronald Reagan kept a plaque on his desk in the Oval Office that read, "There is no limit to the good a person can do if he is willing to let someone else take the credit."

Another way you can practice humility is to refuse to honk your own horn. Proverbs 27:2 states, "Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips." 

You should refuse to be your own press agent. Let other people handle the job for you. This is a tough principle for people to follow. They think accomplishment will go unnoticed if they don't tell others about it. Yet, the truth is that when we try to shine the spotlight on ourselves, we are setting ourselves up for humiliation. That is why Jesus said, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 14:11)

The last thing I want to share with you on how we can practice humility is that you must be willing to give up your rights. Matthew 20:28 says, "even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." In America, I've heard Christians say that I have a right to do this or that because of the Constitution. We must be careful when exercising this right because we could trample on other people and become a stumbling block to them. The Apostle Paul wrote about this when he said, "Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak." (1 Corinthians 8:9)

Jesus is God and had every right to use us as tools to accomplish his objectives on this earth. This is the creator's prerogative over his creation. However, Jesus said he came to this earth to meet our needs, not his own. The greatest evidence of genuine humility is a willingness to give up a personal agenda and rights for a greater purpose.

In closing, I want to say that because Jesus was willing to humble himself by giving up his rights as God and suffering death on the cross, you and I have the possibility of being saved. However, to receive that gift of salvation, you and I must also humble ourselves. We must commit our sins rather than covering over our sins. We must surrender any thoughts of earning God's forgiveness instead of receiving it as a free gift from Him. Additionally, we should never have the mindset that we have pride already figured out. If we have this mindset, we have failed; humility is understanding that we do not have it all figured out, especially pride. Additionally, we need to develop an attitude like John the Baptist when he said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30)