The Wisdom of Humility

“The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.”  Proverbs 15:33

In Max Lucado’s book, “Traveling Light”, he makes this statement about humility:  “Humility is such an elusive virtue.  Once you think you have it, you don’t, or you wouldn’t think you did.”  That is so true.  It makes me think about the man who became proud of his humility!  To be a completely humble person is hard to capture and maintain.  Webster’s Dictionary defines a “humble” person as one in whom pride is absent.  Pride, as we know, is an elevated opinion of oneself, an attitude that one is self-sufficient, perhaps better than others, and/or is arrogant and conceited.  Everyone has some pride within their heart because we have a sin nature, but hopefully not as extreme as the definition given.  I know of no one who could be a perfect model of humility, but I do know some who are pretty close.

The humble person always thinks about others and does not want to be the center of attention.  He or she had rather work in the background and doesn’t mind if others get the credit for the success of the team effort.  That is difficult for most of us.  If we work hard at something with others, doing much of the work, we get a little ticked off when others get the credit for the work that we did.  It takes a truly humble heart to be able to dismiss prideful thoughts and move on.  The humble person doesn’t mind foregoing his or her own plans when someone else needs assistance.  As far as planning goes, I have found that very few plans work out the way that is desired.  The person who is filled with humility will be flexible and make themselves available to help others and not expect anything in return.

Of course, there is always the possibility of what could be called “fake humility”, that is, acting as if one is humble in order to get attention or sympathy.  And then there is also the possibility that those who are humble are taken advantage of by folks who exploit them to do tasks that the prideful do not want to do, or tell them a sob story to get money from them, which happened to me today.  I was going into the Dollar Tree, and a young woman was coming out the door.  She asked me if she could ask me something.  I said, “Yes”.  She then said, “Can I have a dollar?”  I said, “What do you need it for?”  She said, “Food”, so I gave her a dollar.  She told me that God would bless me for giving her the money, but that’s what they all say.  You never know if they are telling the truth about their need, but since I couldn’t determine that and not wanting to judge her, I gave her the money.  I don’t know if that is an act of humility or just being gullible.

I don’t think that in God’s requirement for us to be humble, He meant for us to be doormats for others to walk on.  We have to use discernment in some cases leaning more toward the side of humility rather than leaning away from it toward pride, which is one thing that God clearly stated that He hates (Proverbs 6:16-17; 8:13).  Pride was what caused Eve to take of the forbidden fruit.  That sly old devil convinced her that if she ate it, she could be her own god (there is nothing new about New Age Religion), thus she wouldn’t need the LORD God any longer.  Some folks who are full of pride think that they have a better idea about living their lives than how God designed life in the beginning.  No wonder the Creator of man hates pride.

The wise person is a humble person.  He or she recognizes the omnipotence of the LORD and knows that without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5).  All that we are and all that we can become lies in the hands of God.  He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (I Peter 5:5b).  “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (I Peter 5:6).  One day, it will be those who are the humble servants of Christ who will rule and reign with Him forever and ever (Revelation 22:5).