Humility and the
God commands us to cultivate humility. “Humble yourselves (I Peter 5:6, James 4:10),” before God by accepting His Word and Providence without grumbling, and before other people by putting their interests above your own (Philippians 2:1-5). Coupled with humility is the fear of the Lord.
In the Psalms we see that fearing the Lord means to stand in awe of the living God (Ps. 33:8), to glorify him (Ps. 22:3), and to trust him wholeheartedly (Ps. 40:3).
God gives grace to the humble.
Humility is a grace that attracts more grace. Pride closes the door to spiritual growth, but humility opens the door of your life to more of God's grace. To the humble, God gives patience, and peace, and gentleness.
“The person who is greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever honors himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be honored.” Some people brought little children to Jesus to have him hold them.
What was Jesus' ultimate example of humility? (He died on a cross. Dying on a cross was the most humiliating and painful way to die. However, Jesus chose to humble Himself even to die on a cross. He knew it was the ONLY way to save us and bring glory to the Father.)
He discussed Humility as three types: intellectual, moral and personal.
Jesus tells His followers that “Whoever is the greatest should be the servant of the others. If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.”
The greatest example of humility in Scripture is the Lord Jesus Christ. We are instructed to follow His example. Like Jesus, we are to “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than [ourselves]” (Phil. 2:3).
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
Taqwa is an Islamic term for being conscious and cognizant of God, of truth, of the rational reality, "piety, fear of God". It is often found in the Quran.
Rahab feared the Lord more than her own king. Rahab had faith. In Hebrews 11:31, it says that Rahab did not perish with the disobedient because of what she did by faith. Her heart melted in fear of the Lord, but by faith, it was re-built strong again.
The Bible defines humility as “the fear of the Lord” (Proverbs 22:4). Its etymological root is in the Latin word "humus" meaning "of the earth." To be humble is to be face down in the dirt, submitting to the authority of another, without personal pride. This is the Christian's proper position before the Lord.
Humility must never be viewed as a weakness; it must be viewed as a strength of one's character. Humility coupled with the fear of the Lord is rewarded with riches, honor and life which many are seeking through alternate methods.
The King of Heaven and Earth did not spend His time on Earth as a rich or wealthy man, but as a humble servant, serving as a perfect example of humility. St. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:6-11 that Jesus' life is symbolic of humility from the very beginning to the very end.
In Chasing Humility, he helps you explore eight essential aspects of humility in the life of a Christian: authenticity, confidence, gratitude, love, praise, empowerment, mentoring, and breaking barriers.
Saint Benedict's fifth-century guide to humility is a fundamental spirituality for those who work and pray. For the record the twelve steps are fear of God, self-denial, obedience, perseverance, repentance, serenity, self-abasement, prudence, silence, dignity, discretion and reverence.
A key quality of humbleness is to value others and enable them to be heard. Spending time listening to others, and drawing out their feelings and values, enabling them to express themselves, is a very powerful way to start to understand this.
Humility is really quite simple: it is the recognition and acceptance of reality through open-mindedness to truth. Humble leaders grasp their own capabilities in relation to others and the situation at hand.
Humility is built from four components: accurate self-awareness, appreciation of others, openness to feedback, and transcendence perspective (Nielsen & Marrone, 2018) .
It means you aim to continually listen, receive, and respond with generous openness to life from the deep conviction of God's lovingkindness and goodwill. Spiritual humility is reliant upon the God who is “other” than us. He is most often known in ways that include and yet transcend our physical senses alone.