In Praise of Humility

When someone writes or speaks of humility it may appear they must be lacking it. And yes, I do struggle with pride and have too little humility. But I also think humility is worth talking about.

So at the risk of sounding proud, here is a post in praise of humility and warning against pride. I certainly need it. Maybe someone reading this needs it too.

What does God the Creator say about humility and pride? What he says matters because he's God. Part of humility is acknowledging that the word of God is true and final. It only makes sense that the Creator knows better than the people he created. Romans 9:20 "But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?"

Of course that is one of the huge challenges of our day - creatures denying the Creator's truth and design for them. There really couldn't be a much more accurate name for this than pride. For any who embrace pride as an identity or a mantra or a cause to be celebrated or a way to show love, believe it or not, I want to show you love. 

The love I want to show may not be the kind of love you wish for. But it is genuine love. I want you to know what is true. It is not love to affirm a lie or to encourage someone to continue in a way that leads to misery and ultimately death. Here's the danger. Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death." When in our pride we do what seems best to us instead of what God says, we go astray and are headed for death. That's why I truly believe the real expression of love is to tell the Creator's truth, not to affirm what one of his beautiful creatures feels or believes to be true.

So what does the Creator God say about humility and pride?

Humility is a virtue to be pursued and cultivated, while pride is an evil to be avoided and abandoned. Humility is found in the way that leads to life. Pride is the path to death. The humble person is willing to listen, while the proud delights in airing his opinion. The proud cares more about what they think and feel than of what God says.

• Proverbs 11:12 "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom."
• Proverbs 16:18-19 "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud."
• Philippians 2:3 "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves."
• Colossians 3:12-14 "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."
• Proverbs 12:15 "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice." The words pride and humility don't occur in that verse, but it perfectly captures both.

The pursuit of our own way in pride contrary to God's truth is dangerous, wicked, and ends in death. The pursuit of God's way in humility according to his word is safe, wise, and ends in life.

We live in a time and place and among a people where humility is desperately needed. Psalm 18:27 "For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down." I pray we will be humble to receive God's truth and not reject it. May it begin with me. And I would love to have a conversation about it with you.