Although humility is a difficult trait to live out, it seems to be one of the more straightforward principles to understand. Therefore, there are many practical steps we can take towards humility.
I don’t really like teaching about subjects like this, because I feel I have so much work to do myself. So, please know I’m coming from a “let’s work on this together” perspective and not a “now that I’ve mastered this, allow me to share” attitude. God has humbled my heart in many ways, but humility is something we have to stay on top of. If we become aware of pride in our lives, as with any sin, we should go to God to confess and forsake it.
Finally, everybody ought to know by now that I like to keep things simple, so there is plenty more to be said than what you’ll find here. The verses I’ve listed are just a sampling, and I’d encourage you to go find more for yourself! God’s Word has plenty to say on this subject!
Now, let’s start with some motivation. The opposite of humility is pride. God makes it very clear that pride is not only something He doesn’t desire for us, but it is in fact a sin and He hates it. We see this in several passages, including Proverbs 8:13 “The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I [Wisdom] hate.” and 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
In 1 John 2:15-17 John writes, “ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life-is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
Pride is not one of the virtues of a Christian or a fruit of the spirit, but humility on the other hand, flows in and through all of the fruits of the Spirit, especially patience and gentleness as we just learned in our “Fruits of the Spirit” study.
So what can we do to be humble? Here are a few good places to start.
- Learn to Look to the Needs of Others Before Serving Only Yourself (This includes loving your enemies, and saying no to selfish tendencies.)
In today’s culture, you’re going against the grain if you preach against selfishness and entitlement; but saying no to our selfishness is exactly what God has called us to.
Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus told His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’”
Paul says in 1 Timothy 3:1-5 “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” He goes on to say that these people will face their just consequences.
In contrast, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:24-26)
So instead of looking to only our own needs, we are called to “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4)
This kind of selflessness involves loving even those who seem unlovable, and trusting vengeance to God.
Romans 12:14, 16,19-20 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’”
- Examine Your Heart
Have you ever noticed how as soon as you improve on something, you start thinking about how good you are for your improvements? Or maybe you struggle with enjoying recognition for doing kind things, or perhaps you’ve bought the lie that you can make up for some of your sin by doing “good” deeds. Maybe you just enjoy the nice feeling you have when you help someone, but you enjoy it a bit too much. The unfortunate reality is that even when working towards a good goal, we tend to get sidetracked with our own selfish agendas.
To have a heart that serves with true humility is to have a heart that serves from pure motives. It is to serve for the glory of God and not for man’s praise. It is to have no need for your deeds to be known. It is to give credit where credit is due, by recognizing that as sinful human beings, we are incapable of doing truly righteous works on our own. Only by the power of the Holy Spirit are we able to live a righteous life and bear righteous fruit.
So, as Charles Spurgeon said, “Be nothing; be nobody; and trust Him. Do not believe in yourself, but believe in Jesus. Have as many good works as you can cram into your life, but never tell anybody about them or think anything of them.”
Galatians 1:10 “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Matthew 6:1-4 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
John 14:15-17 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (Here we see the promise of the Holy Spirit to help us live for Christ.)
- Control Your Thoughts
We are told to “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” in Proverbs 4:23. What flows out of our heart is often what’s being dwelt on in our mind. What we think about plays a huge role in how we feel, which in turn plays a huge role in how we act. Keeping pride in check involves these very important practices: (I say practices because it is a trait we must learn. We must use self-control to discipline our minds.)
Number 1: Do not allow yourself to dwell on your good deeds.
Sometimes it seems the bigger the “good deed”, the more thoughts creep into our head and say, “That was nice of me to give up what I wanted.” Or, “I wonder if they noticed how I overlooked that insult.” Or, “I hope they appreciate how I gave up my time for them.” Although it would be near impossible to never think anything prideful, we are able to stop ourselves from dwelling on these thoughts. It simply requires self-discipline.
Number 2: Do not compare yourself to others.
We tend to feel insecure around certain people who seem to excel at whatever we fall short at. But on the flip side, we can always find people who we think aren’t as good as we are. Sometimes we look for those people solely to feel better about ourselves. This is the exact opposite of being humble.
Whenever I find myself struggling with these two things, I remember this important truth: We are not judged by our standards, but God’s. His standard is perfect holiness, and I am humbled when I remember I can never attain that on my own.
Number 3: Hold Yourself Up to God’s Standard – His Law
God’s Law, the Ten Commandments, quickly eradicate any prideful thoughts and feelings I may have. I have broken God’s Law many times and in many ways. I am not good, I am sinful. Yet because of Christ’s death and resurrection, I am also saved, redeemed, and made holy. When you’re tempted to think to think too highly of yourself, just remember that God’s standard is the one that counts, and we fall dreadfully short. (See Exodus 20:1-17 for The Ten Commandments.)
Number 4: Mediate on God’s Law
Instead of thinking only on our ourselves, we should fill our minds with God’s truth.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
- Prayer and Studying Scripture
We should bring everything before God in prayer, including our struggle with pride. If we confess our sins, God will forgive us as He says in 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Forsake your pride and seek to follow Christ’s example of humility. The best way to see Christ’s example is to study His character throughout Scripture.
- Walking in Obedience
Finally, as we saw in the introduction to this series, humility involves being obedient to God’s Word. All the good deeds in the world are worthless if not done out of a love and reverence for God, with a heart that seeks to follow His commandments. Although obedience can be difficult, God does give us the strength to do His will, and He blesses the thankful, obedient heart. So praise God for His salvation, thank Him for His Word, and love Him, which in Jesus’ own words is summed up in this way: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
Walk in humble obedience, friends. Follow Christ’s perfect example.
The Misplaced Mom 
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