January 11th

Humble Yourselves

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

A Difficult Subject

The subject of humility can be a difficult one to talk about. One of the reasons for that is because most people who are prideful, and full of themselves, are not aware of it. The have a difficult time seeing the need to humble themselves.

The Bible tells us that if we humble ourselves, that the LORD will lift us up. Jesus said that he who humbles himself shall be exalted, or lifted up, and he who exalts himself shall be abased, or brought low. One reason this is a hard subject to grasp is because it is the opposite of worldly thinking, in which we are encouraged to fight our way to the top, and to walk over anyone who gets in the way.

Kingdom Humility

In the kingdom of God, humility is merely recognizing that God knows vastly more than we do, and allowing Him to make a way for us. Humility is backing away from the controls, and letting God take over. It is waiting upon Him patiently for wisdom and for guidance, and then acting upon His leading.

Not Low Self-Esteem

Humility is not low self-esteem, or having a negative view of yourself. Destroying your self-esteem and creating a low opinion of yourself is what the devil does. We are somebody in Christ. And we need to find out who we are in Him and we will not allow the devil to make us think otherwise. So, we must understand that humbling ourself is not destroying our self-esteem, or our sense of self-worth. All too often, that is how religion portrays humility, that we should consider ourselves to be worthless. That is not humility. You are valuable to God, and He paid an awesome price to obtain you.

He Resists the Proud

The Bible says that He gives grace to the humble, but opposes the proud. We can actually be in a position in which God is standing against us, and not even recognize it. How much better it is to be supported by His grace in whatever we are doing. He gives grace to the humble.

Proverbs 29:23 A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.

Upheld With Honor

Honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. The word “honor” used in this verse means abundance, riches, and reputation. God blesses those who humble themselves before Him. There is great reward in humbling oneself and allowing God to lead and guide us, and lift us up.

How Do We Humble Ourselves?

To do things God’s way requires that we know what God’s way is. And that requires a familiarity with His word. His word teaches us His ways. The more time we spend in meditating in and pondering the word of God, the more we begin to see and understand His ways, and His ways are different from the ways of the world, that we have been raised on.

Start today in a pursuit for understanding His ways. Study and meditate in the teachings of Jesus. Let the King of the Kingdom teach you how the Kingdom works. Humble yourself before His mighty hand, and let Him change the way you think about things. As you do that on a regular basis, He will begin to perform a work of His grace in your life, and take you to places that you were not aware of before.