The Beauty Of Humility

The Beauty of Humility

Read: Luke 18:9-14

“Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 18:14

“God can only fill valleys, not mountains.”

—Roy Hession

IN WORD Of all the sins known to man—quite a long list—the one condemned most emphatically in the Bible is pride. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,” both Proverbs and James say. Jesus affirms this truth with a striking parable: The man who was too ashamed even to lift his eyes to heaven was the one God forgave. The beauty of humility and the offensiveness of pride are consistent themes in Scripture. Why?

Think about pride as the ultimate escape from reality. It denies that sin is a problem; it exalts self and self-effort; it denies a need for God and refuses His help; it attributes accomplishments to human ability rather than God’s gifts; and it completely undermines God’s effort to display His grace in the world.

Humility is based on truth. It acknowledges sin; it responds with grief; it sees God as the only hope; it invites Him into this fallen creation; and it allows Him to display His grace. The only difference between heaven and hell for an individual is whether or not one sees his or her brokenness and reacts to it with grief and repentance toward God. Only the humble do that. The proud never get that far.

IN DEED Yet many Christians still try to put their best foot forward to make a good impression on the world (or on God). We think God displays Himself in our righteousness. But if it’s self-righteousness, He is far from it. He displays Himself better in our humility, where we are seen as needy and He is seen as merciful. He is the beauty in our humility. Christians who want to be exalted by their impressive accomplishments are headed in the wrong direction.

The incredible truth of the gospel is that the way to be exalted is to fall facedown in sorrow and repentance, crying out to God. It’s OK to do that. It leaves nothing up to us and everything up to Him. There is no better place to be.