Humility

Contributor: Josh Bunnell

A Humbling Christmas Morning

Have you ever awoken on Christmas morning, wide-eyed with childlike wonder and joy, only to receive a present that disappointed you?  Maybe you had wished for a BB gun, or a smart TV, or possibly a puppy dog, but when you climbed out of bed, scrambled to the Christmas tree, and opened your first present, you received gingerbread man socks.  The first thought that might have crossed your mind is, “I deserve better than this.”

The battle between mankind’s pride and the sovereignty of God actually persists year-round, and it has been a struggle since Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in order to acquire God’s omniscience (Genesis 3:1-6; NIV).  Today, even in Christian circles, it is rare to find people who seek to serve God and others before seeking their own will.  This priceless virtue is discussed in Andrew Murray’s book, Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness.

Humility is a Lifelong Endeavor

A common criticism of Murray’s book is that the author overexplains his point until the book becomes repetitive.  Truth be told, however, the importance of humility cannot be overstated because human beings naturally desire to seek their own will.  Since it requires continuous dependence on the Holy Spirit and effort to fight against human nature, Murray emphasizes in every chapter that humility is the most essential virtue.

“Humility is the only soil in which virtue takes root; a lack of humility is the explanation of every defect and failure.  Humility is not so much a virtue along with the others, but is the root of all, because it alone takes the right attitude before God and allows Him, as God, to do all.” – Andrew Murray, Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness

There is a reason why Jesus dedicated the entirety of His human life to washing His disciples’ feet, resisting the devil’s temptations, and acknowledging that His work came solely from the Father.  Aside from the fact that only a perfect Lamb could be a worthy sacrifice to atone for all of mankind’s sins, Jesus set a lifelong example of servitude so that Jews and Gentiles will never once have an excuse to submit to their own pride.  Humility is not a one-and-done deal; it is a lifelong endeavor.

Humility Before God

In the third chapter of his book, Murray makes an important observation about how many times Jesus uses the words, “not” and “nothing,” when referring to Himself throughout the Gospels.  The Son of God never once sought glory for Himself, but only to elevate the glory of the Father who sent Him.  This attitude was evident from His earliest teachings to His final, humiliating death on the cross.

“For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent me.” – John 6:38 (NIV)

If Christ, who is completely God, humbled Himself before His Father, should we, mere mortals, not also humble ourselves before God?  If Christ considered Himself as nothing before the Almighty Father, do we not have a duty to cast away our pride and serve God with our whole being? 

Alas, we cannot cast away our pride – at least not on our own.  Humility can only occur when we stop obsessing on ourselves and direct all our attention towards God instead.  Fortunately, the Holy Spirit resides in our souls for just that purpose: He fills our hearts with His Godliness so that when we look towards our Lord, we feel more at home than when we concentrate on ourselves.

One of Murray’s key arguments is “that it is not in daily sinning that the secret of humility is found, but rather in the position of dependence upon the grace of God.”  Sometimes, people attempt to achieve the latter through false humility, which can mean self-flogging or chastising themselves in a manner that draws excessive attention from others.  However, this is neither kind to oneself nor truly humble.  All that is necessary is to simply acknowledge that we have sinned, ask God for forgiveness, and strive to do better next time.

Only when we fully depend on the grace of God can we fully submit to Him.  Once we fulfill this “first and greatest commandment,” then and only then can we fulfill the second commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-38; NIV).

Humility Before Others

As Christians, we naturally love God and seek to please Him, yet it is often extraordinarily difficult to humble ourselves before Him and other human beings.  Yet, He commands us to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves.  In fact, our humility towards God is only genuine when we express a similar humility towards others.

“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?  And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” – 1 John 4:19-20 (NKJV)

Even the most enthusiastic Christians often fail to be humble, especially in the presence of other imperfect humans.  Even the twelve disciples of Christ spent a large segment of the Last Supper debating which of them was the greatest until Jesus had to remind them of their proper place.

“Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.” – Luke 22:26 (NIV)

We must be kind to our friends, our enemies, and even total strangers with the same Christian love.  After all, Jesus would not have told the Parable of the Good Samaritan if He did not expect us to love our most feared foes.  Anybody who lives in a neighborhood knows how difficult it can be to get along with those next door.  Furthermore, we should assume that Christ is not only referring to our literal neighbors but anybody with whom we cross paths.

Loving the Unlovable

Students in Odyssey Leadership also read The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis.  In the chapter titled “Charity,” Lewis explains that this fourth love is unconditional and involves a willingness to “love the unlovable.”  Charity is the greatest love of all because it does not depend on circumstances; it depends only on obedience to God’s command.  

Everybody has lovable qualities as well as some not-so-lovable traits.  However, our pride often compels us to reprimand others for their flaws while simultaneously demanding that people love us for our admirable traits.  Therefore, we often feel humbled when we receive kindness that we know we did not deserve:

“In reality we all need at times, some of us at most times, that Charity from others which, being Love Himself in them, loves the unlovable.  But this, though a sort of love we need, is not the sort we want.  We want to be loved for our cleverness, beauty, generosity, fairness, usefulness.  The first hint that anyone is offering us the highest love of all is a terrible shock.” – C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

In this sense, we must enact humility not only when we give love, but when we receive it.  This is a bitter truth to swallow, but it is the truth nonetheless.  After all, God loves us for both our lovable qualities and our unlovable qualities, even though we do not deserve it.  And now we have a duty to show Christian love towards other human beings, regardless of their lovable and unlovable traits.

God asks us to share some of this redeeming love with others because it is a light that shines onto His gift of salvation for all of mankind.  This is part of His plan that is much bigger than ourselves, and we have a duty to fulfill our part with cheerful and loving attitudes.

Final, Humbling Thoughts

How many times have we prayed to God, asked for humility, and then acted out of selfishness merely moments later?  How many times have we even asked Him for humility at all?  Our pride is a deadlier trap than we are often willing to acknowledge.  And yet, we must make an effort, every single time, to choose God first, others second, and ourselves last.

So next time you unwrap a Christmas present and receive a less-than-exciting present, just remember why we celebrate Christmas in the first place: over two thousand years ago, Jesus came to this earth, humbled Himself, and offered Himself as atonement for our sins.  That ought to fill us with humility, the true Christmas spirit, more than anything else all year round.