During this morning's Bible reading in the gospel of John in my Reformation Study Bible (which contains little short articles by various contributors), I came across a very nice article on the topic titled "Humble Obedience to Christ". The idea of what it means to be humble often gets confused, exaggerated, and/or acted out in ways that are not consistent with what the Bible shows us.
From the article:
“Humility in Scripture does not mean pretending to be worthless and refusing positions of responsibility, but knowing and keeping the place God has appointed for one. Being humble is a matter of accepting God's arrangement, whether it means the high exposure of leadership (Moses was humble as a leader Numbers 12:3), or the obscurity of being a servant. When Jesus said that He was “lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29), He meant that He was following the Father’s plan for His earthly life.” –The Reformation Study Bible; Chief Editor: R.C. Sproul English Standard Version –in my copy it is on page # 1519
From the article:
“Humility in Scripture does not mean pretending to be worthless and refusing positions of responsibility, but knowing and keeping the place God has appointed for one. Being humble is a matter of accepting God's arrangement, whether it means the high exposure of leadership (Moses was humble as a leader Numbers 12:3), or the obscurity of being a servant. When Jesus said that He was “lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29), He meant that He was following the Father’s plan for His earthly life.” –The Reformation Study Bible; Chief Editor: R.C. Sproul English Standard Version –in my copy it is on page # 1519
Humility was
(and often still can be) a confusing subject to try to explain, and live out as
well. It isn’t just a matter of mimicking an attitude, or of performing a role
like an actor… it has to do with a true character in true submission to our
Creator and Saviour, out of love for Him, out of respect for Him, not out of
wanting to appear holy to other people around us, to garner attention to
ourselves for our “good works”, nor out of wanting to obtain or “keep” our
salvation, because those were errors common to the Pharisees. It comes out of a
stronger place that knows we are God’s children and understand the
responsibility entrusted to us, and that our actions will reflect on Him not
ourselves.
When we do wrong, we bring dishonour to His name, and as children
that love our Father, we only want to honour Him and bring others into wanting
to praise and honour Jesus as well. I hope and
pray that we can be worthy vessels, serving our Master in humble submission to
His will for us, to bring honour and glory to His name.
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Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
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