Humility Before God - The Humility Project for Fathers

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:10, ESV)

You, of all people, know that time is short. The first six years of your child’s life can feel like a week. By the end of the month, she is leaving for college and you are left wondering what just happened. Life goes by so fast. Therefore, you have no time for anger and frustrations that creep in. There is no time for pride that demands respect or vague niceness that leaves no lasting impression. You want something powerful, filled with wisdom. You want fathering (and husbanding) at its best. Humility, it turns out, is the only path to get there. The word can stand in for dependence and faith, which are foundations of our spiritual lives. These five devotionals will lead you in humility, and that should be enough time for others to take notice.

The first thing to understand about humility is that it begins by being humble before God. This might cause us to think that humility can be quite easy, but being humble before people is difficult. We humble ourselves before God. We walk humbly with him (Micah 6:8). This is the clear emphasis in Scripture. Humility guides our relationships with our children, spouses, people over us and people under us, but it begins before God. Everything we have is from God. We cannot take our next breath apart from his care for us.

So start with God. Humility is to rest in God alone, to listen to what he says, to learn from him, and to speak to him. From that place, humility takes action and blesses those around us—even when we are not treated the way we want. Humility is not necessarily about getting lower—it is simply living in the reality that God is God and we are not.

One way to move the needle on our growth in humility is to literally speak about it to the Lord. How often do you speak the following expressions of humility?

1. “Jesus is Lord” [and not me] (Romans 10:9). Humility recognizes Jesus is Lord and you are under him and dependent on him. You accept—even enjoy—your God-given role in his kingdom. Jesus is Lord—not you.
2. “Jesus, help.” This phrase appears throughout Scripture, and men in particular are notoriously bad at saying it. The northern kingdom of Israel fell, in part, because men didn’t ask God for help (Hosea 7:14). We too will fall apart if we do not ask for his help.
3. “Thank you.” Humility is knowing that what you have accomplished or any good you have received is not a result of your own greatness but is a gift from God. “Every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17).

The psalmist says it well, “As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me” (Psalm 40:17). The shorter version is, “Jesus, I need you.” It takes “help” and intensifies it. Other than, “I need sex,” or “I need a break,” men rarely speak about needing anyone or anything. Dependence is awkward enough. Need is offensive. But when we grow into maturity, this is what wise men say. When you remember the words poor and needy, good things happen. It is the way you were created.

Does any particular expression of humility catch your attention—one you can speak to the Lord both today and in the days to come?

Humility is not the way of doormats and losers. We fear humility will ask us to ignore injustices but this is not true. When we are humble, we no longer need to cover up inadequacies and insecurities. We no longer need to find our strength in resumes, money, or the opinions of others. Humility is the path of the resilient, bold, sturdy, strong, and even-tempered who are beginning to listen rather than react. It brings wisdom into our daily decisions and peace in our relationships. It is the way of freedom. The secret within humility is that our lives no longer teeter on our fragile egos but rest on something much firmer—Christ himself. Humility is to know that God has revealed himself most fully in Jesus Christ, who is in charge and lives to serve you even at this moment. He is the humble servant God.

Talk to King Jesus about this. Talk to a friend about it.