Living Humbly = Living Justly
Humility is talked about many times in the Bible:
We are called to be “gentle and humble in heart” (Matt 11:29), to think of ourselves “with sober judgement” (Rom 12:3), we are told that “God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble” (Jam 4:6) and that “everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord” (Prov 16:5).
Robertson McQuilkin in his book Biblical Ethics says: “Notice that the essence of pride is a distorted view of self, leading to unwarranted self-confidence that, in turn, propels a dependent being into a disastrous attempt at independence.”
This has been one of the biggest challenges for me in my walk with God and still is a daily challenge.
This summer I have been in Colorado at a training programme and one evening we received teaching on this very topic. As I sat there, I thought to myself ‘I am quite a humble person- I don’t struggle too much with this’….but one line from the teaching that stood out was: Pride is like having bad breath: you are the last one who realises that you’ve got it.
Maybe you are sitting there reading this and thinking the same as I was…maybe try answer these questions?
Do you think your way is always best?
Are you vulnerable with others?
Is it hard for you to ask for forgiveness?
Do you listen well or do you have more answers than questions?
Do you serve only when it makes you look good?
Are you envious of others’ status, possessions and abilities?
Do you seek to spend time with those who are popular and make you feel good, rather than the ‘little guy’ everyone ignores?
How often do you dwell on your own problems and pains?
Are you forever crying over your troubles, but never your transgressions?
Do you compare and compete?
When you hear of other people’s sins, do you think that is much worse than anything I have done?
As I asked myself these questions, I realised that my heart was full of pride!! The humble believer is the one who thinks mostly about God and the people God has put in their lives to love and serve – how often do I think of others before myself? Not as often as I would like.
I have another question for you: Do you walk into a room and think, “how are people going to respond to me? What are people going to think? Will people like me and find me funny?” Or, do you walk into a room and think, “what can I do to serve? Is there anyone on their own that I could talk to?”
Can you imagine how radically different it would look if all Christians lived this way? How different would our churches look? How much more of a witness would this be to our work colleagues/classmates?
Micah 6:8 commands us to “Do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God”. Living a humble life also means living a life of justice: caring for each and every person in this world, regardless of their rights and their circumstances. In his book Generous Justice, Tim Keller says:
“A lack of justice is a sign that the worshippers’ hearts are not right with God at all, that their prayers and all their religious observance are just filled with self and pride.”
Keller also hits the nail on the head when he says, regarding those who feel unable to make a difference to the injustices in this world:
“when you say, ‘I can’t help anyone,’ you usually mean, ‘I can’t help anyone without burdening myself, cutting into how I live my life.’”
This has definitely been the case with me in the past: the amount of times I walk by a homeless person and think ‘I want to have enough money to buy that new top…maybe I will just walk on by today?’ or the amount of times I think ‘I could give £2 a week to IJM and make a small difference, but I would really love that extra coffee!’ or ‘I could sit down and pray for all those suffering across the world for 10 minutes a day, but I don’t have any time to spare’.
Matt 11:28-30 says: “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
This is why we should act humbly…not out of compulsion, but because our God is gentle and humble in heart. He doesn’t order us to humbly labour and serve so that he doesn’t have to, but rather he calls us to participate in the activity with Him…to come to Him and get under the yoke of the Ox and walk beside him.
Serving in humility draws us closer to the greatest servant of all, our God. Are we willing to go into a room and serve? Are we willing to give generously with our money and our time in order to bless those around us? Are we willing to sacrifice our own desires for others? Are we willing to put our own desires aside and live humbly and therefore justly?