By Sue Dickinson
If only I had a little humility, I would be perfect. This quote by Ted Turner is the summary of how many people think, in a society that has become increasingly committed to independence, competition and success. As Christians, we are instructed to turn the other way and humble ourselves to the Lord. As Christian Americans, that is a pretty tough command to obey.
If you look up the definition of humble you will learn it can mean inferior to others, broken, and even shamed. It is clear that our society sees humility as a negative more than a positive.
It doesn't seem possible that the God of love wants that for his children. It just somehow feels self-contradictory.
Yet, the Bible is full of passages praising the humble.
For the proud will be humbled and the humble will be honored Luke 14:11.
Happy are the meek, because they shall inherit the land Matthew 5:5
Does God really want us to be bullied in this life, content to be walked on now in exchange for eternal glory?
It is easier to understand when we realize that the word humble isn't used the same way as it used to be. If we try to interpret what God means based on our modern knowledge, we have a problem. But the Bible's interpretation is actually much more positive than that.
If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face. But if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself. This is how The Message, a narrative progressive translation of the Bible records Luke 14:11. When you review it from that context, it is a lot easier to understand what Jesus is getting at.
I like what Archbishop William Temple said about the topic: Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all. This better explains to me what God is asking of us when he commands us to be humble.
God's intent is to get us to stop thinking selfishly about ourselves and to commit to His service instead. He doesn't want to see us bullied or pushed around by the world. He wants us to take pride in our gifts and abilities and use them in His glory.
God's instructions to be humble are actually an invitation by him to be proud of our abilities and to use our gifts for His glory. And rather than worry and fret like the world does about finding our purpose and realizing our potential, we can be stress free in the knowledge that God is in control, he loves us, and wants the best for us. What a freeing gift he gives us if we just choose to accept!
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you. 1 Peter 5: 6-7.