Part 1 Humility
Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the LORD, and humility comes before honor.
Proverbs 15:33
One of my favourite pastors in his intentional action to maintain accountability uses the acronym H.O.T. which means humble, open and transparent. Now to try to embody these three things is admirable but what do these words really mean?
The Hebrew word ‘anav’ is translated as humble. The word humble means to not regard yourself as better as other person. The Hebrew also notes the actions of ‘responding or answering’ (as in testifying to) and ‘being low”.
Now I believe in accountability, I believe it is the only thing maintaining some persons' sanity and sometimes their walk. The people of God today don’t embrace the responsibility of accountability like I think they should and that is because of one thing; we are exposed.
We do not like to be exposed. Neither to each other and worse to God. From the moment we became aware of ourselves we tried to hide. Adam and Eve did it the moment they became fully aware of themselves and hid from God not wanting him to see them exposed in their sin. We have done no different today we hide behind a mask or embody a posture of pride.
But the scripture reminds us about humility to teach us about the way of God so let’s break it down.
Firstly, to be humble is not only an action, it is a response. God asks us to reject our flesh and pride and respond to him acknowledging that we are nothing without him even though he created us higher than the angels. He wants us to acknowledge that being humble is not just a physical response but a response of the heart. It is a response to the greatness and goodness of who God is and what He has done and continues to do.
The scripture above says that wisdom is the application of the knowledge about who God is. It admonishes us that we should fear the Lord. However, the ability to fear the Lord only happens after we recognize our relationship with God and it is from that personal space that we can respond in humility. As a result of that faithfulness experience we :
1. See the honour of intimacy with the maker of everything
2. Receive honour from our response to Him.
Secondly, humility requires acceptance of position.
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
If we are humble then we are in a place to recognize our humanity. Humans do not like to acknowledge their flaws and society has not made it any easier. In this world, the goal is to do it for the likes not for His love but God has a different plan in mind. He exposes us in the passage in Micah and it is clear who He is and that we are nothing compared to Him. This is not in an attempt to embarrass us but to encourage us to stay by his side. He even makes it clear that what he asks of us is not to show off, but rather to walk with Him and love the things He loves.
Lastly, Humility teaches us how to Love people. I believe that if you were to sum the bible into four words it would be this; 'Love God, Love People'. The challenge is, loving people is hard.
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 2:4
In order to love people steps 1 and 2 are important because if our heart posture is unchanged and our position is still elevated then our hearts will be too hard to love those who will undoubtedly hurt us for just being the same as us. Loving the beautiful mess that is our brother or sister becomes 10 times as hard when we are not humble. If we understand and accept that we are nothing before the Lord then it becomes a little easier to understand and be gentle with those around us.
So what is your heart posture today?
What are some things about your position that you are unwilling to let go or unwilling to accept?
How have you loved God’s people today?
Prayer:
Lord, Give me the grace to respond to who you are, to accept my position and to Love the people you have placed around me. Amen .