Exalt Him in Humility

There are difficulties peculiar to talking about humility. One is that when I talk about humility, I am keenly aware of how unworthy I am to speak on the subject. Even more, I am aware that I probably lack humility far more than I even know. Closing the loop, Christian leadership is one place where you’re supposed to work with the understanding that you are not worthy. I do know that I am unworthy and I know that my faith is in the only Savior who is worthy.

Again, humility is a difficult topic to talk about. Unfortunately (possibly in part for the reason above), I feel that it’s a topic that is not given nearly enough attention, especially in light of how much Scripture has to say on the subject.

Two of the most important concepts in Christianity are 1) God’s love for us and 2) our position as sinners who have fallen short of God’s holiness. His amazing love for us is that while we were sinners, He provided a Savior for us in His Son Jesus Christ (Rom 5:8). If we really believe these things to be true, we will be saved. And if we really believe these things to be true, we will be humble.

Paul tells the church of Colossae (and Christians in general) “as God's chosen ones holy and beloved” to put on “compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Col 3:12). Why? Because to be clothed, as it were, in such things points to what we know: that God loves us, provided a Savior for us, and drew us to salvation through faith in Christ. All of this would be impossible without God and all of this points to the character of God. Our character as Christians reflects what we know and believe to be true about God. The behavior befitting a Christian is behavior that glorifies God, that is, it reflects the glory of His character as He has revealed it to us in scripture.

Our understanding that salvation—from beginning to end—belongs to the Lord should inform all of our actions in all spheres of life. So often in the New Testament we are told that the humble will be exalted. That’s because in our humility we are showing our proper understanding of our relationship to God. Scripture also tells us that “The greatest among you shall be your servant” (Mt 23:11).

Again, in Philippians 2:3, Paul writes “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” He then points us back to Jesus Christ, reminding us that God took the form of a servant, a human, who became obedient to death, even death on a cross—a dishonorable (and horrible) way to die. And He did this to save His enemies, those who were dead in their sins. He preached to the lowly, spoke with the Samaritan, healed the leper, ate with tax collectors and prostitutes, washed the feet of His own disciples, and went to the cross for sinners. He stood at the temple watching the wealthy movers and shakers making their grand donations and commended not them but the poor widow who gave two copper coins, because even though the amount was small, she gave the greatest proportion. And in doing so, she gave the gift that Christ wants us to remember 2,000 years later. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (Ja 4:10) .

I would also direct your attention to how Paul says this in both Colossians and Philippians: it is a command. So often we take exhortations from the epistles as good suggestions, things to keep in mind. This misses the weight of what is being said. The epistles are teachings for the beginning of the Christian church and for all time. Humility is at the core of what it is to live the Christian life. And while we should definitely pray that the Holy Spirit will strengthen these things in us, Paul doesn’t tell us to wait for the Spirit to make us humble, he commands us with words inspired by the Spirit to put it on. Dress yourself in humility. Envelope yourself in it. This is an action for you to do.

So, how do we put on humility? Let’s circle back to our first point. We do it by continually meditating on our position in relationship to God and on God’s love for us which he revealed in the life and death of our Savior Jesus Christ. We do it by remembering that the only difference between us and the world is that the Holy Spirit drew us irresistibly to belief in the Gospel. When you are constant in your remembrance of Christ and your undeserved salvation, humility will be your “natural” reaction. I daresay this will set you apart in this world of influencers and social climbers. We should be noticeably different because we know the truth of the Gospel. And our job is to take what we know to those who need it (which is everybody).

We have just enjoyed a season of reflection on our Savior’s first advent and of looking forward to His return. We’ve imagined the lowly carpenter with his betrothed in an obscure town under the rule of a foreign empire, a world with so little room for them on the night of their child’s birth that God incarnate is laid in a trough where animals usually feed. This snapshot is of a lowly situation by earthly standards, but we are infinitely dependent on that humble baby. My encouragement to you is in all that you do, put on the appropriate humility that will point the world to the greatness of our “God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).