Humility is a word we don’t hear often. We live in a world where people think far too much of themselves. When my boys played Little League baseball, there was a man who stood at the fence and repeated over and over to the boys, “You got to believe in yourself.” Now I know what he was trying to do. He was trying to boost their confidence and encourage them to think positively about what they were doing, but the concept was biblically wrong. Our confidence must not be in our own selves, but in the one who can enable us to achieve. While we need to encourage people to push forward and do the things that they need to do, we don’t need to inflate their egos. Humility is a great Christian attribute that God loves. The dictionary defines humility as having, or showing, a modest, or low estimate of one’s own importance. Humility puts the accolades and glory where it belongs. It gives God credit for what he has done through us. Humility is not thinking low of yourself, it is not thinking of yourself at all. You are more concerned about God’s view and the welfare of others.
Moses was known as a meek and humble person. This is the description God gives him in Numbers 12:3. His brother and sister were speaking against him. They were downplaying the role God had given Moses and seeking to exalt themselves.
Numbers 12:1-3 “And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)”
In this situation Moses took no steps to vindicate himself, that’s why consequently, the Lord promptly intervened. God was angered at Miriam and Aaron. Their comments about their brother were ultimately about God because it was God who put Moses in the position of leading His people. In one sense they were saying God didn’t know what He was doing.
Numbers 12:9 “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed.”
Moses was not confident in himself. When God told him to speak to the people, he said, “Lord, I cannot speak,” God said I will provide! He told Moses, I’ll tell you, and you tell Aaron what to say to Pharaoh. God didn’t put Aaron in charge, he just used him to allow Moses to accomplish the task.
Exodus 6:29 “That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee. And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?”
Exodus 7:2 “Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.”
Humility does not want credit for what God does. Humility doesn’t want to share in the glory, humility wants God to get all the glory. Humility doesn’t cower down and refuse to push forward, it does the opposite because it is not through his own strength that things get done. It is through the strength God provides. Humility understands Philippians 4:13. Through Jesus Christ, we can have the strength to do all that God intends for us to do.
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Humility understands Philippians 2:3-5. We are to not think of ourselves at all but to think of others. This was the mind of Christ. The one who humbled himself to become a man so that he could experience what we experience and pay the price for our sins.
Philippians 2:3-5 “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”
Christ never exalted himself. His Father exalted Him. In the end, all will bow before Him. When we examine our motives and tear down the idols of pride, we acknowledge that God is in control and everything is His. He promotes those who exalt Him and do not seek their own way.
Psalm 75:6 “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.”
Matthew 23:12 “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”
Humbleness is a heart attitude that needs to be cultivated. It is a daily process of putting denying self to exalt Christ. It is training ourselves not to think of ourselves at all and to trust God to take care of us.
One day, we will stand before Him and give an account of our lives here. If we have sought to put Him above everything else, to seek His ways rather than our own, to live selflessly rather than selfishly, we will gain the greatest reward of all time. We will hear him say, “Well Done, thou good and faithful servant.”
