Understanding Pride and Humility in the Eyes of God
Humility reconciles us to God. Because of humility, we see that we cannot save ourselves in our strength, perfection, or good works. We need humility to receive God’s saving grace and mercy.
When you are humble you acknowledge the truth about yourself instead of judging and criticizing others.
“Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God!” 1 Peter 5:6.
God desires that we have a humble mindset and a desire and need to do His will and tremble at His word. We are not to be rich and satisfied with ourselves. That is pride and stops God from doing a transforming work in our lives, rather we are to be humble and lowly of heart. Then God will regard us the grace we need to make true progress in our Christian lives.
“The proud” is not being proud of yourself, your achievements, or your strengths. These are God-given gifts; He wants you to utilize them and carry them out in works and service. Not to boast, but to use to honor Him in everything you do.
Instead, God speaks to the prideful, the arrogant, and the one who feels they can live without Him.
James 4:6 says, “God resists the proud.” You may think,” I am not proud.” But that is exactly what you are when you don’t receive grace. God gives grace to the humble…… always.
“God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you…. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you.” James 4:6-8,10
Humility in the role of Christians means holding loosely to the need to be right. It enables us to not take success or failure too seriously. It means that we’re able to learn from criticism instead of responding with a critical spirit. It helps us to lose obsession and instead, learn to have healthy self-awareness. When we face trials, humility preserves peace in our souls. We don’t have to wonder how we are going to handle this trial because we know that God is God, and we are not. He holds our past, present, and future in his hands. When we humble ourselves before Him, we recognize that He holds the answers to our questions.
In His time, we humbly wait, we grow in Him. The greatest promises of God are toward the humble. He promises to sustain us in Psalm 147:6.
He revives our spirits Isaiah 57:15 soon he looks on the humble with favor Isaiah 66:2
Here are seven forces that work against humility
- Our Ego
We are born self-centered and, unless something intervenes (like a spanking or discipline or instruction), we grow up full of ourselves, thinking the world revolves around us.
- Our successes
No one wants to fail. Everyone wants to succeed in life. And yet we learn far more from our failures than from our successes and accomplishments.
- Our underlings
Our groupies, our fans, our employees, our admirers call them what you please. Sycophants. Many of these attempts to curry favor using us for their purposes.
- Our forgetfulness
God sent us failure and humbled us, but we quickly forgot the lesson and soon were back to speed with our ego running the show.
- Our enemy, Satan himself
Jesus told Peter that the devil wanted to sift him like wheat. Matthew 16:18, we get a picture of Peter being turned into sand. Satan is forever trying that approach with us today, in two primary ways:
- By running us down
- Destroying our confidence and faith
- And puffing us up, making us believe in our self-sufficiency.
- Our blindness
When we look into the mirror, we do not see the “truth” but we see what we want to see. Even without successes to puff us up, we still find ourselves carrying inflated ideas of who we are. Where does this come from?
We are turning blind eyes toward reality. The Old Testaments prophets and our Lord Jesus spoke of those who have eyes but will not see Matthew 13:13
- Flattery
“You are so wonderful.” “You are the best pastor we’ve ever had.” I read everything you write.” Etc are some of the flattery words we are all aware of and have come across. The ugliest trait in all the world -bar none, no debate about it is conceit. An actor can take home more Oscars than anyone in movie history and adorn the covers of all the fan mags and we are fine with that. Few things adorn accomplishment like humility.
Why this is an important topic? Why is God wanting us to focus on humility? Here are some reasons God’s word identifies our being humble.
- That He may exalt us in due time
Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. 1 Peter 5:6
- So that we may learn. Only the humble are teachable
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.” Matthew 11:29
- That God can use us in his service. He cannot use the prideful
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. These, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51: 17
- To receive more grace
“He gives more grace. Therefore, he says, “God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” James 4: 6
- To enter his presence
“Thus, says the High and Lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit.” Isaiah 57:15
- To be saved and enter the kingdom
“Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18: 3-4
- That our prayers may be heard
“He does not forget the cry of the humble.” Psalm 9:12
Ways to Humble yourself according to the bible
- Recognize one’s sinfulness before the Holy God
The key is to move forward in what God has called us to do while we maintain an awareness of his holiness and might. We are the recipients of his power.
- Obedience plays a part in humbling ourselves
It teaches us that we don’t always know best, but as we lean in and listen, we learn from Him. Sometimes he nudges, us to give up a habit or start a new one and we resist. But when we lean into His grace and say “Yes”, we grow in our faith. He works in us as we depend on him to fulfill that “Yes.”
- Prayer is the most powerful way to humble yourselves
2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us how humbling ourselves through prayers opens the door to God moving on our behalf. We can pray throughout the day as well as have a specific time to pray. One way to bring humility alive in our hearts is to bow, kneel, or lay face down on the floor and pray. Lowering our physical bodies turns our hearts towards emptying one’s self and laying aside our desire for glory.
- Gentleness towards others is another way to humble ourselves
While living this life, we will grow annoyed with people. In those times we can remember that God made them on purpose for a purpose just as he made you and me. When we live humble, with awareness, we can be gentle with others in their weakness.
- Letting go of our need for prestige is another way to humble ourselves before the Lord.
Being first or the best tangles with the motives behind our actions. We strive and strain towards the top. We set people on pedestals because they are pretty or famous or overcomers of a tragic event. In doing this, we whisper to ourselves that we’re not worthy of sharing our stories because we don’t have a “position.” But God says not to focus on status, but to follow him.
The human heart is a mess. The human animal is a rebel. As puny and flawed as we are, the fact that we accomplish a few things and then decide we can live without God is all the proof anyone should ever need of our precarious condition in this universe. The war to remain humble must be fought on many fronts every day of our lives.
Life holds troubles that vary in intensity based on the seasons of life we find ourselves in. God gives us wisdom and he directs our steps. We need to recognize our need for Him in every aspect of our lives and to come humbly to receive His grace, strength, and power for living.
Thank you.
