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Humility has been greatly defined and discussed, and everyone would agree that humility is an important virtue. However, it seems that people’s thinking on humility often comes from different foundations.
I believe that to define true humility, we must start from a right understanding of who we are in the redemptive plan of Christ – that we are all sinners, unable to earn salvation on our own merit, and that Christ has poured out His mercy upon us and laid down His life for us. Humility is first recognizing that we are equally needing grace and mercy, thus, no one is lesser or greater than others before Him. With this, we know that there is surely no room for boasting regardless of our roles, position, or achievements in life. Instead, humility points out that all that is good is of God and enables us to cherish the low of life as part of God’s sovereign work. He is the one who deserves all the honor and glory. There is a submission aspect in humility.
Scripture pictures humility in two ways: before God (James 4:10) and towards others (1 Peter 5:5-6). James 4:10 emphasizes this aspect of submission to God in humility. Scriptures also witness to many biblical leaders being humbled by the Lord. In Humility: the forgotten virtue, Wayne Mack points out that God takes believers into the valley of humiliation and gives a few biblical examples such as Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and the apostles who were brought to the valley of humiliation. Mack writes: “The valley of humiliation represents the humbling experiences that God brings into our lives to destroy the sin of pride and to help us develop godly humility.”[1] I believe that true humility is a fruit of our faith, the outcome of true knowledge of Christ, and of our faithful walk with Him. It is a modest view of 'self' (both ours and others), theocentric, and putting others first before ourselves.
As believers, we are called to serve one another. However, serving others perhaps the last thing a selfish man would do. In his video, John Piper points out his daily battle of selfishness and points himself back to Christ. This is a reminder that, like Piper, we are all struggling with selfishness and pride, and only by the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit that we are enabled to put to death our selfish desire, and enabled to serve others. I think this is where we could see the significance of humility in our service. When we understand that our ministry, whatever that might be, is God-given, it should silence our pride. With humility, we are open to learning, to receive rebuke, reproof, and constructive criticism.
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[1] Mack, Wayne. Humility: The forgotten virtue (New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2015), 19.
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