Key Verse:
"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men… He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him…"
(Philippians 2:5-9 MKJV)
Intro:
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Gentleness… (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV) Personally speaking, this one's is my favorite! There is nothing that impresses me more than a person who is humble. Bible is very clear about the fact that there is none that can impress the heart of God the way humble hearted people can do. Gentleness, humility, meekness, call it what you want, is the quality that we are looking at, in this post. It is a state of the heart not of the mind or the body. Whatever possesses your heart will possess your mind and in turn dictate how you act outwardly. Of course we have been hanging out with too many religious folks, that we all know how to put on the humility mask outwardly. Guess what, that doesn’t last long, one day or other you will be embarrassed to find out that the beans have spilled!
The Meek Moses:
One of my favorite characters in the bible is Moses. Bible says that the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. (Numbers 12:3 ESV) Wow! Is God comparing Moses' humility with others? Of course yes! Some people wrongly define humility as compromise or living in surrender to people. Well, Moses wasn’t doing so. He was one of the most fiery man you could have encountered in the whole Israeli camp. If you are genuinely interested in developing humility in your life, I will suggest that you take out some time to do a character sketch study of Moses. Moses, though he was brought up in the royal palace, with the royal training and luxury, had to come to the place of no confidence in the flesh and absolute dependence upon God before God could start using him. Christians don’t believe in the concept of self confidence but in God confidence. Moses was pastoring a church of over 2 million people in the context of that verse. That's humility.
Success follows Humility:
Jesus laid down the ground rule for promotion in the kingdom of God when he said "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."(Matthew 23:12 ESV) I know that it's not the way things work in the secular world, in the corporate sector, in all the glamour industry, etc. Out there, if you have to make it big, you have to prove yourself good, better and best! In the kingdom of God, somebody like an unwise and uneducated child gets more preference than a rocket scientist or the best philosopher around. Funny, isn't it? Here, the more you humble yourself, the more you will be lifted high. Again and again, the bible gives you a shortcut to success, it is humility. Jesus said when you pray, don’t pray in a way or place where everyone can see you. Instead, humble yourself and pray in a way that only your Father in heaven can see it, only then will you be rewarded! (Matthew 6:5,6)
Humility is painful:
Another fact about humility is that it is very painful and discouraging to lead a life that's truly marked with humility. That is why very few people have it till the end. There are many people who started off with small beginnings and absolute dependence on God. However, when God starts changing the circumstances, our attitude towards everything starts changing for the bad! This is cause a life devoid of humility is enjoyable. But a life filled with humility is very painful, it is like dying to self. Jesus said"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:24 ESV) Paul said "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20 ESV) The grain of wheat looses its individual identity to give birth to lot more other grains of wheat. Doing that is painful!
Am I Humble?
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (1 Peter 5:5 ESV) Can we take some time to inspect our hearts and check if we are truly humble from the inside? I pray that we will always keep this exhortation of Apostle Paul on our hearts. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus!
"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men… He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him…"
(Philippians 2:5-9 MKJV)
Intro:
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Gentleness… (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV) Personally speaking, this one's is my favorite! There is nothing that impresses me more than a person who is humble. Bible is very clear about the fact that there is none that can impress the heart of God the way humble hearted people can do. Gentleness, humility, meekness, call it what you want, is the quality that we are looking at, in this post. It is a state of the heart not of the mind or the body. Whatever possesses your heart will possess your mind and in turn dictate how you act outwardly. Of course we have been hanging out with too many religious folks, that we all know how to put on the humility mask outwardly. Guess what, that doesn’t last long, one day or other you will be embarrassed to find out that the beans have spilled!
The Meek Moses:
One of my favorite characters in the bible is Moses. Bible says that the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. (Numbers 12:3 ESV) Wow! Is God comparing Moses' humility with others? Of course yes! Some people wrongly define humility as compromise or living in surrender to people. Well, Moses wasn’t doing so. He was one of the most fiery man you could have encountered in the whole Israeli camp. If you are genuinely interested in developing humility in your life, I will suggest that you take out some time to do a character sketch study of Moses. Moses, though he was brought up in the royal palace, with the royal training and luxury, had to come to the place of no confidence in the flesh and absolute dependence upon God before God could start using him. Christians don’t believe in the concept of self confidence but in God confidence. Moses was pastoring a church of over 2 million people in the context of that verse. That's humility.
Success follows Humility:
Jesus laid down the ground rule for promotion in the kingdom of God when he said "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."(Matthew 23:12 ESV) I know that it's not the way things work in the secular world, in the corporate sector, in all the glamour industry, etc. Out there, if you have to make it big, you have to prove yourself good, better and best! In the kingdom of God, somebody like an unwise and uneducated child gets more preference than a rocket scientist or the best philosopher around. Funny, isn't it? Here, the more you humble yourself, the more you will be lifted high. Again and again, the bible gives you a shortcut to success, it is humility. Jesus said when you pray, don’t pray in a way or place where everyone can see you. Instead, humble yourself and pray in a way that only your Father in heaven can see it, only then will you be rewarded! (Matthew 6:5,6)
Humility is painful:
Another fact about humility is that it is very painful and discouraging to lead a life that's truly marked with humility. That is why very few people have it till the end. There are many people who started off with small beginnings and absolute dependence on God. However, when God starts changing the circumstances, our attitude towards everything starts changing for the bad! This is cause a life devoid of humility is enjoyable. But a life filled with humility is very painful, it is like dying to self. Jesus said"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:24 ESV) Paul said "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20 ESV) The grain of wheat looses its individual identity to give birth to lot more other grains of wheat. Doing that is painful!
Am I Humble?
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (1 Peter 5:5 ESV) Can we take some time to inspect our hearts and check if we are truly humble from the inside? I pray that we will always keep this exhortation of Apostle Paul on our hearts. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus!
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