We all know that God calls us to humility. However, most of us cannot even give a definition of humility. How can we attain that which we cannot even define? What does it mean to be humble? Pride is simply an inflated view of self; I view myself as being more than what I am in reality. In contrast, humility is an accurate view of self, a view that refuses to obscure who I truly am from others.
How then do I get an accurate view of self? The answer is the most basic principle of Christianity, faith. I must believe the truth concerning who I am. This is done in four basic steps.
First, I must believe what God says about me. God sees me for what I truly am. His verdict on my life is reality, even if I do not see it the way He sees it. I must trust His verdict as revealed in His Word.
Second, I must believe my own actions. “When someone shows you who they are, believe them!” We apply this to everyone but ourselves. We know more about our sin than any other human being, yet we choose to justify and ignore our actions. I am what I do and what I think; I am not the caricature I display towards others.
Third, I must believe the testimony of others. The Bible is clear that the testimony of two or three witnesses is sufficient to establish guilt. If everyone knew about you what you know about you, what would their testimony be? We conveniently ignore criticisms and advice from others, which is a manifestation of our unwillingness to come to terms with who we truly are.
Fourth, I must reject my own judgment. In our pride, we set ourselves up as the judge over who we are. We disallow the testimony of any witness that we do not like. It does not matter if that witness is our conscience, a friend, or even God Himself! We have determined the outcome of the trial before it starts. We will always be right! Even when we are wrong, we will issue a verdict placing the blame on someone else or finding some way to excuse what we have done.
This is not a pleasant exercise; the ego is hard to kill! However, this is the path to spiritual power and victory. As I come to grips with who I truly am (humility,) it drives me to Jesus. There I see His death in my place. My sin is gone because of His crucifixion. I see Jesus rise. The power that raised Jesus from the dead now changes me. The Holy Spirit indwells me transforming me into Christ’s likeness. I now have God Himself indwelling me! This is the Gospel.
Humility now causes me to reject me (my flesh) as the one who calls the shots. Humility shows me that I have no business running my life! Instead, I now let the Spirit of God live the life of Jesus through me. This is the pathway to power. This is how we are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and walk in newness of life. It all begins with humility, an accurate view of self.
How do you view yourself apart from Christ? Do you see all that Christ has done for you to live His life through you? Do you see who you now are in Christ? Will surrender your life to Jesus in light of this truth?
0 Comments