True Humility

From the very beginning of our lives, we are taught to be proud! Be a go-getter, achieve perfection, climb the ladder, or be an assertive self-starter. Hustle goes with the bustle and busyness, and we become performance driven in all aspects of our life! When told to be humble, we say, “𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁!” Almost as if it is another achievement or notch on our belt of success!

Frederick Meyer gave this thought-provoking quote; “𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘴; 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 – 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘬 … 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴; 𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.”

 I must confess that many a time I have been gratified by my own independence, self-determination, and self-reliance – not seeing their root in pride!

In 1 Peter 5 we are told; “𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 “𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒆.”  Clothe yourself! Dress yourself in a garment of humility much like Jesus, the King of Kings and LORD of Lords did. As Jesus prepared to wash the feet of those He taught He; “𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒍, 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒕.” (John 13:4) That towel our Savior wrapped around Himself was the white scarf or apron of a bondservant! Jesus was more than prepared to be identified with those who selflessly serve, to be associated with a bondservant who would quietly merge into the background at any King’s feast!  Did you notice that He didn’t tell everyone that He was dressing in the clothing of a servant, He just did it.  True humility!

Who was this message to? All of us! “𝑯𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒅’𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑯𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒖𝒑 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.” If we will submit to one another, take on the garment of a bondservant, be prepared to merge into the background, and carry out the lowest of tasks, our Wonderful Father will lift us up in due time, at that appointed season, and in His timing!