Lean Joyfully Into the Word

May, 2007

by: Ruth Hammer

Most prominent women in today’s world display great pride in themselves and their accomplishments; Oprah comes to mind. Pick any woman on the street to describe a humble person or humility, and likely she would be stumped. Pride is considered an essential, while the truly humble are discounted.

When New Testament writers went to convey the biblical concept of humility, they basically coined a new word since there were none adequate. Humility, in the Greek-speaking world—as today—was not deemed a virtue. The word in use then conveyed the idea of inadequacy, worthlessness, and powerlessness. It was a low, demeaning place, not where one would choose to be.

Scripture portrays a very different sense of humility: a low position of attitude to which a person brings herself in relation to God and others. This is not a bettering of oneself but a work of the Spirit by means of the Word of God, most often accomplished as we face the harsh winds of life.

True humility begins at the cross. One must come to see herself as completely without any defense or excuse before God, and that her only hope is in the penalty Jesus paid for her sin on the cross. This truth will become much clearer and more precious as she grows spiritually, but it must be grasped at some level at the beginning of her new life in Christ. “True humility is actually the starting point* and summary of salvation* as far as the human response is concerned,” wrote John MacArthur. There can be no salvation without a measure of humility.

But salvation is simply the beginning. Take a look at I Peter 5:5-10 which teaches potent truths about pride and humility. It begins with the strong declaration that “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” From that starting point, we are taught five ways that humility is to be implemented in our lives.

We are admonished to:

• Be clothed with humility in relation to one another (vs. 5). The term, clothed, refers to tying something on with a knot or a bow, like an apron. In Peter’s day a slave would tie on an apron to keep her clothes clean while serving the master. That is how we should relate to one another: with humility tied on, ready to serve. Jesus showed by example (John 2:3-11; Mark 10:42-45; 1 Peter 2:21-23; Matt. 11:29; John 13:12-15), that we are to humbly serve one another.
• Be submitted humbly to leaders in the church (vs. 5). Hebrews 13:17 reiterates this: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” We must submit to our leaders, who themselves submit to God and are responsible for the believers in their care.
• Be submitted humbly under God’s sovereign hand (vs. 6). His plan for each of His children includes teaching her to trust in His wisdom, even—maybe especially—when times are tough. God will first discipline His child before raising her to a place of effective service.
• Be eager to cast all your anxieties on the Lord (vs. 7). Another way to say this is to roll all of your struggles onto the Lord, showing a humble dependence on Him; don’t try to carry them yourself. After all, He cares about you! He will grant peace by which your heart and mind will be guarded from fears that otherwise tend to overpower you (Phil. 4:6, 7).
• Be alert, humbly acknowledging that we easily fall prey to pride. We cannot resist Satan on our own (vs. 8); he would like nothing better than to have us for dinner! How can we foil the devil’s attacks? By firmly anchoring our faith in the Word of God (vs. 9).

Someone noted that “true humility comes from a right perspective gained in the presence of God.” This sense of who we really are—only unworthy slaves (Luke 17:10)—comes through His gracious work of teaching us humility. As one would lean into a strong wind and not bend backward, let us “lean” joyfully into God’s ongoing work of sanctification in our lives, “without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14).