True and false humility

Let me give you 3 examples, and consider which is the best display of humility:

Example 1: A teenage girl walks to school with her head down and a chip on her shoulder. She often utters to herself – “I’m fat, stupid, and ugly.”

Example 2: A man talks to his friends about his terrible job – he doesn’t brag about his job because he hates his job, but he dominates the conversation with talks of how terrible his job is.

Example 3: A woman talks with her friends. She interjects briefly, but for the most part she listens to what her friends have to say.

 

The real example of humility is of course example number 3. The other two are not really displaying humility. Example number 1 is an example of ‘low self esteem.’  Low self esteem is not the same as the quality of humility!  Example number 2 is really displaying pride! It’s difficult to see because he’s not saying something positive about himself, but by dominating the conversation with facts about himself he says, “My life is very interesting! Everybody look at me!” This is not humility – it’s pride. The third example displays a mature soul who does not draw attention to herself. She is not consumed with thoughts about herself but shows interest in other people. Applying this to the Christian life – Christian humility is shown when a believer dwells primarily on God and God’s glory and not his or her own self-image.

CS Lewis put it like this: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less”.

 

Let us be a people who do not obsess with our own issues and self-image – but on God’s kingdom and glory.

 

Philippians 2:3-5 “(3) Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; (4) do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (5) Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,”

Are you here to serve, or to be served?

One of the trends among Christians today is that they expect Jesus to be there to serve them, and the truth of the matter is that their expectations couldn’t be the furthest thing from what Jesus wants.

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Mark 9:35

If you truly love the L0rd, you’ll strive to have a heart like His. His passion for serving and sacrificing for others. A strong relationship with Him isn’t about what’s in it for us, but what we can do for others. I mean if you look at His life, you’ll see that not only did He humble Himself by stepping down from His Kingdom, but He showed a complete and total humility by serving others, and dying on the cross for those who had sinned against Him in the first place. He never focused on the problems that He was going through but instead kept His sight on what He could do to save others.

Take time out today to do something for someone else. If you’re going through tough times, like so many of us are, then take a break from your worries and help someone else who may be in need. You’ll be surprised at how theraputic helping someone else can be. But more importantly you’ll be even more surprised at how much you’ll impress and gain the favor of the one we should alsways be trying to, and His name is Jesus.

I pray today that we all can learn to follow the example of Jesus and to become servants. I pray that the Lord will put someone in our path that will stretch our faith and teach us humility and patience. I pray today that we all can clear the hurdles in life and help each other as we are called to do. But most of all, I pray that we can all become more Christ-like and bring someone else to the full knowledge of Jesus.