Others Centered

#4 Humble

The 4th style on the list of Gayle Erwin’s book is humility.  He starts with Matthew 18:4

Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven

As Erwin goes on to explain, most people have such a huge misunderstanding of humility.  We believe that humility is telling people how bad you are, how little you know, how much better other people are than you.  That is self-pity at worst and false-humility at worst.

Jesus gave the perfect example of humility, which Erwin defines as simply seeing ourselves as we actually are, nothing more and nothing less.  It is being honest with ourselves and with others about who we are and what we can do.

In our warped minds, Jesus could have easily been accused as being full of pride and having a large ego when He said things like, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” or “if you have seen the Father, you have seen Me for I and the Father are One.”  These are not seemingly humble statements but they are true.  He was not building Himself up, He was merely telling people who He was. There is nothing wrong with declaring out loud who you are.  The problem comes from within when you become prideful.  The difference between pride and humility is in the heart.

If Tiger Woods said in an interview that he was the best golfer in the world, would that be inaccurate?  It moves from humility (being honest about yourself) to pride when he starts believing that being the best golfer in the world makes him more valuable as a human being and that other people should start treating him special.

The value of humility and being honest about yourself is that you have nothing to hide from people.  Jesus was accused of many things but never had to fear those accusations because He was innocent of any wrongdoing.  He had no skeletons in the closet, he had no past that could be used against Him by His enemies.

Contrast that to our politicians in America today.  They stand before us declaring themselves as our servants who have given up their private lives to work for us.  They tell us that they do it in all humility to make a difference in the world.  Then, we hear story after story how they weren’t paying taxes, how they were cheating on their spouses, how they were engaged in scandals to earn enormous amounts of money.

Humility also frees us up in our relationships with others.  When we are honest and open, we don’t have to hide anything and those we associate are not left guessing what we really meant when we spoke.  If we are always open, they can take our words at face value.  Humility frees us from the bondage of always wondering what people are really thinking.

John 3:21 says:

Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.

Walking in humility and being open and honest allows us to accurately represent Christ to a dark and sinful world.  When we claim to be Christians but walk as the world walks, they see no reason to change because there is no difference between us and them. Fortunately for us, the Lord can do His work despite our shortcomings.