What causes humiliation?
Isaiah 2:9So now they will be humbled, and all will be brought low—do not forgive them.
Jeremiah 3:25“Let us now lie down in shame and cover ourselves with dishonor, for we and our ancestors have sinned against the Lord our God. From our childhood to this day we have never obeyed him.”
Lamentations 1:8Jerusalem has sinned greatly, so she has been tossed away like a filthy rag. All who once honored her now despise her, for they have seen her stripped naked and humiliated. All she can do is groan and hide her face.
Daniel 9:8O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.
Malachi 2:9“So I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people. For you have not obeyed me but have shown favoritism in the way you carry out my instructions.”
Our sin causes humiliation. When we disobey God, we walk from his presence into the shadows of shame and humiliation. Sin is humiliating because it constantly works to degrade us, making us unfit to be in God’s presence. We realize that we have let God down and disobeyed him. It tarnishes the image of God in us.
2 Samuel 22:28You rescue the humble, but your eyes watch the proud and humiliate them.
Esther 6:6So Haman came in, and the king said, “What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?” Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?”
Psalm 18:27You rescue the humble, but you humiliate the proud.
Proverbs 29:23Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.
Isaiah 2:11, 17Human pride will be brought down, and human arrogance will be humbled. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment. . . . Human pride will be humbled, and human arrogance will be brought down. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment.
Isaiah 26:5He humbles the proud and brings down the arrogant city. He brings it down to the dust.
Jeremiah 49:16“You have been deceived by the fear you inspire in others and by your own pride. You live in a rock fortress and control the mountain heights. But even if you make your nest among the peaks with the eagles, I will bring you crashing down,” says the Lord.
Luke 18:9-14Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
1 Corinthians 1:27-29Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
Humiliation can be a consequence of pride. Pride seeks to elevate us above God and others. But in reality, it degrades us in the eyes of God and others. On judgment day, the proud will be humiliated when they realize how far they have fallen from God’s standards.
Judges 16:21So the Philistines captured him [Samson] and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and forced to grind grain in the prison.
Esther 6:12Afterward Mordecai returned to the palace gate, but Haman hurried home dejected and completely humiliated.
Proverbs 25:8Don’t be in a hurry to go to court. For what will you do in the end if your neighbor deals you a shameful defeat?
Humiliation can be caused by defeat. The ultimate defeat and humiliation is to fall to Satan’s false promises.
Proverbs 13:18If you ignore criticism, you will end in poverty and disgrace; if you accept correction, you will be honored.
Humiliation can be a consequence of ignoring constructive criticism.
Psalm 44:21God would surely have known it, for he knows the secrets of every heart.
Jeremiah 2:26“Israel is like a thief who feels shame only when he gets caught. They, their kings, officials, priests, and prophets—all are alike in this.”
Luke 12:2“The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all.”
Sin brings shame, and getting caught is publicly humiliating. Too often, we think we can avoid humiliation by hiding our sins from others. We can never hide our sins from God, however, and someday all our sins will be revealed. But God doesn’t rejoice in our humiliation. He wants to restore our relationships—with him and with others. Accepting Jesus Christ as our savior and living with him as Lord can free us from the humiliation of our sins.
1 Samuel 18:7-9This was their song: “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands!” This made Saul very angry. “What’s this?” he said. “They credit David with ten thousands and me with only thousands. Next they’ll be making him their king!” So from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.
When we haven’t learned humility, we tend to feel humiliated by the success of others.
Psalm 97:7Those who worship idols are disgraced—all who brag about their worthless gods—for every god must bow to him [the Lord].
Isaiah 30:3“By trusting Pharaoh, you will be humiliated, and by depending on him, you will be disgraced.”
Isaiah 42:17“But those who trust in idols, who say, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned away in shame.”
Isaiah 44:9, 11How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don’t know this, so they are all put to shame. . . . All who worship idols will be disgraced along with all these craftsmen—mere humans—who claim they can make a god. They may all stand together, but they will stand in terror and shame.
Isaiah 45:16All craftsmen who make idols will be humiliated. They will all be disgraced together.
Hosea 10:6This idol will be carted away to Assyria, a gift to the great king there. Ephraim will be ridiculed and Israel will be shamed, because its people have trusted in this idol.
Those who worship things instead of the One who made them, will be humiliated when they learn the consequences of their misplaced devotion.
