One of the most important virtues we can possibly have and pursue is something the Bible calls us to clothe ourselves in like a garment. Whether we are clothed in this virtue or not determines whether we can continually receive God’s amazing grace, or whether He has to resist us! Given how totally dependent we are on the Lord, what could possibly be more important? Likewise, could anything be worse than having the Almighty God oppose us?
“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:5-6).
What is this humility that God’s Word calls us to embrace so emphatically? The truth is that many people have a completely wrong understanding of what it means to be humble, thinking that self-degradation or self-pity displays humility. In fact, some of the most miserable, self-loathing people are actually the most proud, desperately lacking humility, because they are always focused on themselves. “Self” is the keyword in determining whether someone is genuinely humble or, instead, given over to pride.
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4).
A truly humble person thinks about themselves as little as possible, choosing instead to focus on others ahead of themselves. They do not crave personal glory or require recognition for their achievements and can even rejoice when someone else receives credit for their accomplishments. When we compare that to the obsessive focus on self that is emphasized in society today, with a constant craving to be considered beautiful, successful, or popular driving the majority of social media, true humility sticks out as radically different. Just considering the fact that the biggest category of all pictures taken in the world today are unashamedly called “selfies,” it is evident just how rare genuine humility is.
A humble person does not need to get their own way in every choice, does not need the last word in every argument or get easily offended by every criticism but instead can happily submit to their peers and, most of all, submit to God. Rather than stubbornly insisting on their own will, the lowly person has, by God’s grace, crucified the big “I,” humbly submitting to the Lord’s perfect will. When this happens, their desire for praise and attention completely shifts from themselves to instead longing for Christ to receive all glory and praise. Few people have ever captured the essence of humility more fully in fewer words than John the Baptist when he declared, “He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
Never has there been a man or woman who God could continually use in His kingdom to be a blessing who wasn’t truly humble. That is because the moment pride is allowed to enter into a heart and a person’s desire shifts to personal glory, God in His love must oppose them. Because of how destructive pride is to the soul, our Lord cannot allow that pride to grow and flourish in our life and therefore must resist us. Let’s remember this, especially when we go through a period of deep trials and tribulations and we feel like asking, “How could God let this happen?” It could be God’s way of rescuing us from pride and guiding us back to humility, desiring to bless us more, and enabling us to be more of a blessing for others. That is what the apostle Paul came to conclude when, after having begged God three times to remove the “thorn in his flesh,” God’s answer was not to take it away but to instead comfort him by saying, “My grace is sufficient for you.”
Our best example of true humility was, of course, our Lord Jesus Himself, as Paul describes in Philippians 2:7-9: “But [Jesus] made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.” When God finds someone with this Christ-like attitude of selfless humility, He will draw near to them, blessing them with the greatest blessing of all – intimacy with God – and using them in a mighty way to bring glory for Himself. The evangelist D. L. Moody recognized this when he declared, “If we only get down low enough, God will use us to His glory.”
So how can we be clothed in humility? Evidently, there is a choice that we have to make, as Peter exhorts us to “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.” Crucial to our remaining humble is making daily time alone with God a priority, getting to know Him more intimately as we worship Him in prayer and Bible study. When we grow in our understanding of His greatness and beauty and recognize more fully our total dependence on Him, our natural response will be to humble ourselves. John Flavel described this process like this: “They that know God will be humble, and they that know themselves cannot be proud.”
A simple acronym which helps us remember exactly what humility looks like is the word JOY: J – Jesus first – focus on Him above all! O – Others second – think of everyone around you as more important than yourself. Y – Yourself last – in fact, think of yourself as little as possible. When we do that, there will undoubtedly be true joy in our life as God draws us nearer to Himself in a deeper, more intimate relationship, continually pouring out His grace in our life. Let’s remember: “Be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble’” (1 Peter 5:5).
Ryan Henkelmann
Edmonton, AB
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