Humility Before God

October, 2008

by: John Walters

I was blessed by the “Men Discipling Men” Conference at The Master’s College this summer. All the Sessions were encouraging, inspiring – and convicting! The message I “feature” here is the one I most needed to hear; it addressed an area of ongoing need in my walk with the Lord.

“Humility before God,” delivered by Dr. Wayne Mack, impacted me then, and it’s stayed with me. Citing more than fifty (!) Scripture passages, he walked us through “Ten Manifestations of True Humility.” Here’s a sample:

1. Freely and sincerely confessing my insignificance and sinfulness to God
2. Having a complete lack of trust in my heart and complete dependence on God
3. Totally renouncing all the “glory” of the “good” I have or have done; giving all glory to God for all things
4. Considering it a privilege to serve Christ in any capacity; a privilege of which I am not worthy or deserving.

Dr. Mack focused on two of the “Ten” in his remarks:

5. Completely submitting to God’s will, even if it’s difficult
6. Submitting to the Providences of God without complaint

As he taught from Psalm 119:128, I asked whether I “esteem right all of the Lord’s precepts concerning everything,” or do I often think I’m right? Am I like Abraham who (Genesis 12:4;22:3) “went out immediately,” or do I rationalize why I delay “obedience?”

Am I willing to (do I) stand up for what’s right—as Daniel did (Chapter 3)—or do I usually look for an “easy way out?”

As Philippians 4:11 says, have I “… learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am,” or do I avoid, complain about, or try to escape from difficulties?

So, humility before God requires my willing submission to Him and His will. But is trying to be humble like striving for peace, or being in a hurry to become patient?

Charles Spurgeon said this: “The best definition of humility I ever heard was … to think rightly of ourselves… When you are half an inch above the ground, you are that half-inch too high. When you have found out what you really are, you will be humble … you are nothing to boast of. To be humble here will make you wake up in the likeness of your Master [there].”

Okay, I need to think rightly about myself—but why is it still so hard to be humble?

In Mere [Basic] Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes about humility’s “opposite:”

There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. There is no fault … which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.

“he vice I am talking of is Pride … it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery … since the world began … it is enmity … not only … between man and man, but enmity to God … if you really get into any kind of touch with [God] you will, in fact, be humble [emphasis added] … He is trying to make you humble in order to … [get] rid of the false self… with all its … posing and posturing. To get even near it, even for a moment, is like a drink of cold water to a man in a desert.

I think I’m getting it—like the fruit of the Spirit, the Lord will produce humility in me as I abide in Him and His Word, confess my sins, recognize my complete dependence on the Lord, give God all the glory, and if I don’t forget it’s a great privilege to serve Christ in any way He enables. So how do I start?

A final word from Lewis: “If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it.”

God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time (1 Peter 5:5-6)

May God grant us the grace to (continually!) humble ourselves before Him.