Humility and daily life.
He who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 1 John 4:20.
What a serious truth.
Our love for God is tested and measured by how we treat others in daily life.
If that love does not show itself in how we deal with people, it is a false love.
The same is true of humility. It may seem easy to humble ourselves before God in prayer, but the real proof is in how we walk humbly with others.
Only then can we know that humility has taken root in us that it has become our true nature just as Christ made himself of no reputation.
When we are truly lowly before God not just in outward form but in the deep spirit of our life. It will show in how we treat our brothers and sisters.
This is a vital lesson. The only humility that is truly ours is not what we display in moments of devotion but what we live out in ordinary daily interactions
The small unnoticed parts of life are eternal tests. They reveal the true spirit that rules us.
It is in the unguarded everyday moments that our real character is shown.
If you want to know whether someone is truly humble, watch how they live in the normal routine of life, watch how they respond when not being watched, praised, or admired.
That is where true humility is seen.
Is this not exactly what Jesus Christ taught when the disciples argued about who was the greatest?
When Jesus Christ saw how the Pharisees loved the places of honor at feasts and in the synagogues, when he knelt to wash his disciples feet.
These were the moments He used to teach humility.
He showed that humility before God means nothing unless it shows itself in humility toward others.
Apostle Paul's teaching is the same. To the Romans, he writes, "Honor one another above yourselves. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be wise in your own eyes."
To the Corinthians, Love, and love can only grow from humility. Love does not boast, is not proud, does not seek its own, is not easily provoked.
To the Galatians, serve one another humbly in love. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
To the Ephesians, right after writing of the riches of the heavenly life, walk with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love. And again, give thanks always. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ .
To the Philippians, do nothing out of selfish ambition or pride, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, and humbled himself.
To the Colossians, "Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other, and forgive one another, just as the Lord forgave you."
It is in our relationships, in how we treat one another, that real humility is seen.
Our humility before God has no meaning unless it leads us to show the humility of Christ in how we live with others.
Let us study what humility looks like in daily life in the light of these words.
The humble person always seeks to live by this rule.
Honor one another above yourselves.
Serve one another.
Count others better than yourselves.
Submit to one another.
People often ask, "how we can truly count others better than ourselves when we clearly see they are less mature in wisdom, holiness, natural ability or spiritual growth?"
But this question shows how little we understand real humility.
True humility comes when we see ourselves in the light of God.
When we realize we are nothing and we willingly let go of self so that God may be everything. A soul that has come to this place that can truly say, "I have lost myself in finding you," no longer compares itself with others. It has laid aside all thoughts of self in the presence of God.
It approaches others as one who is nothing, who seeks nothing for itself, but lives as God's servant and for His sake as the servant of all.
A servant may be wiser than the master and still remain in the lowly posture of a servant.
The humble person looks at every child of God, even the weakest or least worthy, and honors them as one dearly loved by the King Jesus Christ.
The spirit of Christ, who knelt to wash his disciples feet, makes it our joy to take the lowest place, to gladly be servants to one another.
The humble man feels no jealousy or envy. He can praise God when others are honored or blessed more than he is. He is content to hear others being praised while he is forgotten because in God's presence he has learned to say with apostle Paul, "I am nothing." He has received the spirit of Jesus, the one who did not please himself or seek his own glory. And that same spirit shapes his life.
When faced with the usual temptations to impatience, irritation, harsh thoughts, or sharp words, especially in response to the weaknesses or sins of fellow believers, the humble man remembers and lives out the command.
Bear with one another and forgive each other just as the Lord forgave you.
He knows that in putting on Christ, he has also put on the heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Lord Jesus Christ has taken the place of self. And because of that, it is no longer impossible to forgive as Jesus Christ forgave.
His humility is not just in how he thinks or speaks about himself, but in what apostle Paul calls a heart of humility, surrounded by mercy, kindness, meekness, and patience.
This gentle and lowly spirit is the true mark of the Lamb of God.
In seeking the higher experiences of the Christian life, believers are often tempted to focus on what may be called the more outward or manly virtues. Boldness, joy, separation from the world, zeal, self-sacrifice.
Even the ancient stoics taught and practiced these. But the gentler, deeper, more heavenly graces, those Jesus Christ brought from heaven and first revealed on earth, are often overlooked.
These are the graces most closely tied to his cross and to the death of self.
Poverty of spirit, meekness, humility, and lowliness.
Let us then put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
And let us show that we are like Christ, not only in our zeal to outreach the lost, but even more in how we relate to our fellow believers by bearing with one another and forgiving each other, just as the Lord forgave us.
Fellow Christians, let us take time to study the Bible's picture of the humble man.
Then let us ask both our brothers and the world around us if they can see in us the likeness of that image.
Let us not settle for anything less than taking each of these scriptures as God's promise, showing us what he is ready to work in us, revealing what the spirit of Jesus Christ will form within us as a living reality.
Every failure, every shortcoming should simply drive us back to the meek and lowly Lamb of God.
Let us turn to Him in quiet surrender, confident that when he is truly enthroned in our hearts, his humility and gentleness will flow out from within us like streams of living water.
I knew Jesus Christ, and He was very precious to my soul, but I found something in me that would not keep sweet and patient and kind. I did what I could to keep it down, but it was there. I besought Jesus Christ to do something for me. And when I gave Him my will, he came to my heart and took out all that would not be sweet, all that would not be kind, all that would not be patient. And then he shut the door. George Fox .
Once again, I repeat what I have said before.
We scarcely grasp how much the church suffers from the absence of this divine humility, the nothingness that gives space for God to show His power.
Not long ago, a humble and loving Christian familiar with various mission stations from different societies shared his sorrow over what he had seen. In some places, the spirit of love and patience was sadly missing. Men and women who in Europe had freedom to choose their friends, were now brought into close contact with others very different from themselves. And they found it hard to bear with one another, to love and to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.
Those who should have been sources of joy and strength to each other became burdens and disappointments.
And all because of one thing, the lack of humility.
The humility that sees itself as nothing. That rejoices in being counted the least and that seeks like Jesus Christ only to serve, to help, and to comfort others, even the lowest and most difficult.
And why is it that men or women who have gladly given themselves to Christ find it so hard to give themselves up for their fellow believers?
Is the fault not with the church? It has done so little to teach its children that the humility of Christ is the first of virtues, the highest of all the graces and powers of the spirit.
It has failed to show that true Christlike humility is what it must like Christ set first and preach as both essential and truly possible. Yet let us not be discouraged.
Let the discovery of how lacking this grace is, lead us to expect more from God.
Let us see every brother or sister who tests or troubles us as God's appointed means of grace. His tool for purifying us. His way of drawing out the humility that Jesus our life breathes within us.
And let us put our faith in this that God is everything and we are nothing.
Then counting ourselves as nothing in our own eyes, we will by God's power seek only to serve one another in love.
Chapter 7 - Humility and Holiness (continue here)
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