Humility.
The word has been weaving its way in my thoughts for a few days now. By definition, it is having a modest opinion of oneself or of one’s own importance (dictionary.com). One could say it is not thinking too highly of oneself. It is not the same as poor self esteem, for it is holding oneself in the right place of esteem. It is knowing Who is to be esteemed.
“Humility is nothing but the disappearance of self in the vision that God is all.” (Andrew Murray)
Jesus lived the ultimate life of humility, submitting to the will of the Father in all things, to the point of sacrificing all. In Philippians 2, Paul reminds us that we are to have the same attitude as Christ:
“Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” (verse 5-8, NLT)
The world will tell us to chase after success, build a platform, elevate yourself. Yet Christ did the complete opposite, He gave up privilege and came down to earth as a human to live and walk among us.
He chose the position of servant, stooping to be with those in need, the outcasts, the poor in health, those rejected by society.
Jesus, obeyed the will of His Father, even when it was hard and cost Him everything. Obedience will require a dying to self.
Humility will empty us of being self-centered.
Humility will require self-denial.
Humility will be the ultimate self-sacrifice.
But there is something else about humility we should not overlook:
“These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2, NIV)
Humility will gain us the gaze of God. He will look upon us with favor and blessing. Andrew Murray said it well.
May we lose ourselves in the vision that God is all.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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Beautiful post, Joanne! I am blessed by the thoughts on losing ourselves, as Christ “emptied” Himself, I pray often that I would empty myself of myself! And truly enjoy savoring God as all. Thank you!!
I try to reread Andrew Murray’s book on humility every few years because humility is a vital virtue that I need to constantly work on. Thanks for the reminder to look to Jesus as the perfect example of humility, always!
This is powerful. I love this quote —> “May we lose ourselves in the vision that God is all.” I’m going to be pondering that for a long time.