By Debra Franklin-Rothrock, guest blogger
Isaiah 66:1-24 / Philippians 3:4-21 / Psalm 74:1-23 / Proverbs 24:15-16
I don’t know if you might share my frustrations and struggles with this; However, I labor with what exactly it is that God wants of me when I consider his instructions to be humble. He does this in several places throughout the Old and New Testaments…or, maybe, it sounds so difficult and counter-cultural that I just really do not like what I understand humility to be.
In Philippians 2:3-4 it says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (New International Version, NIV)
I think to myself, Wow! if I consider everyone above me, who will take care of me? Then I combine that with a part of https://dictionary.com’s, definition of humble: “having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience…low in rank, importance, status, quality…” and I think my self-esteem is in the gutter and I will end up paying a shrink the entirety of my children’s college fund!
But when I get bogged down in that negative, selfish way of thinking, I have to back up. Stop. Ask the Lord, what is He really getting at here? How do I apply His wisdom to my daily approach to life and others?
Strong’s Lexicon says in the original language, the phrase in humility means: Humility, lowliness of mind, modesty. If I read the whole of https://dictionary.com’s definition of humble, not just the negative parts my narrow mindedness has keyed in on; it also states: “not proud or arrogant; modest: courteously respectful”
What I’m now understanding is that humility is not the insignificant, self-debasing, poor self-esteem, that our common misunderstanding of the term connotates. Rather, it is a simple modesty in our thinking that is considerate of others, and mostly of God.
We must understand that God created not only us but the entire universe surrounding us. When God speaks in Isaiah 66:2, He explains a bit more of where He is coming from: “All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”(English Standard Version, ESV)
Okay, now I’m starting to get it. When I compare myself to the God of the cosmos, there is simply no room to be proud or puffed up. After all, He is all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, and all-wise. And all of the people around me, all of them, were made in His image: with His divine spark. How could I possibly consider myself better than them?
And when it comes to my earlier question, who will look after me, myself and I? God plainly states that He will look after the one who is humble and contrite in spirit.
As far as my self-esteem? My valuableness? How valuable is God’s Son Jesus? After all, He exchanged His very life for me, for my salvation, for my abundant life.
When faced with God’s version of humility, with how much he valued and gave up for me, how could I be anything but humble?
