Blog

Humility

By: Steve Negley

Posted: April 14, 2018

Category: Daily Devotional

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:12-17

The empty tomb of Easter reminds all of us the new life that God has offered us in Jesus Christ.

As we get ready to face today, what will it look like if I clothe myself with humility?

The word humility in one biblical passage may be best defined by another:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.
 

Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name
that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:3-11

Can we regard others as better than ourselves (or at least as deserving of the same care and attention we are tempted to lavish on ourselves)? Can we follow Christ’s lead and see that our role in life might also be to serve others, helping them as we are able to help?

In a “lookout for number one” world, shifting our focus to the needs of others may be hard, but humility demands it.

Prayer

Dear God, help me to remember that the encouragement for me to love You with all my heart, and to love my neighbor as I love myself means considering everyone’s needs. Help me to humbly live that way today as I follow the example of my Lord and Savior Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.