Humility is one of the most misunderstood godly virtues, both from the standpoint of what it means, and from the standpoint of the value God places on it. The first definition in dictionary.com is “not proud or arrogant; modest” which is probably correct for the biblical usage, as opposed to the second definition which we often think of first, which is “having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, etc.”. Jesus described himself as “humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29), but he was certainly not insignificant or inferior. Paul describes Jesus as humbling himself to the point of death (Philippians 2:8). Moses is another example of a very humble person (Numbers 12:3) who accomplished great things.
The Bible makes many warnings against being proud (Proverbs 16:18; I John 2:16) and strongly directs the followers of God to be humble (Micah 6:8; Matthew 18:4; Luke 14:10-11; James 4:6, 10). This may be because pride tends to make people value themselves above God and value their opinions above God’s directives (Proverbs 3:7; Romans 12:3; I Corinthians 8:2-3). Thus, the proud tend to become their own gods rather than following their creator (Genesis 3:4). Rather than being a “god”, we tend to make a lot of mistakes, bad judgements, incorrect conclusions and false predictions. Even Einstein is reported to have said that we don’t know 1/10 of 1 percent about anything. Without a reliable guide to follow, and the humility to admit and correct our mistakes, we are frequently on the wrong path.
A very intelligent fellow once told me that his concept of humility is willingness to learn from anyone. Since anyone we meet knows something we don’t, we can learn something from anyone, if we are willing to admit that we don’t know it all.
There are a number of reasons God wants us to be humble and not proud. He has promised to exalt and give grace to the humble (I Peter 5:5-7). Jesus told parables with this as a major part of the story (Luke 14:7-11; 15:11-24), and he lived according to these principles (John 13:3-5; II Corinthians 8:9; Philippians 2:5-9). The Bible also contains many examples of proud people who did wrong, but were more concerned about saving face or appearing to be in command, than doing what is right (Exodus 5:1-9; Esther 3:5-6; Daniel 4:27-34; 5:17-30). There are also examples of more humble people who were concerned about doing what is right even when it did not appear to be in their best interest (II Samuel 12:13-14; I Kings 3:5-14; II Kings 5:8-14).
There are other reasons to encourage humility. Showing humility reduces anger (especially in others) while pride tends to increase it (Proverbs 15:1) and cause over reaction to minor slights. The web site https://darwinawards.com/ (Darwin Awards) has many examples of those too proud to wait their turn, or obey the rules, etc. that paid dearly for their pride. The world would be a far better and safer place if everyone valued and practiced humility.
A good approach to life is to realize that we are ignorant and tend to make bad decisions, and ask for help from an expert. That expert may be an earthly helper (if they in turn are willing to be humble and admit their own failings), or it can be a heavenly helper we turn to. In either case, we need to listen carefully for an answer, even if it means not doing what we want to do (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). The Bible describes prayer as a tool for helping us this way (Romans 8:26-28; Ephesians 6:18-20; Colossians 1:9-12; James 5:16). In my experience, God’s answers are softly given, much like those given to Elijah (I Kings 19:9-18). God follows his own advice and does not answer those who seek him harshly, thus we must be able and willing to hear a soft answer. In other words, we must be humble.
Written by Cliff Copass