Humility

I have always heard humility defined as, “Not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.”

One thing I’ve been thinking about this week is “What does thinking of yourself less look like?”

Philippians 2:1-11 is one of my favorite Bible passages. Verses 5-8 read, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

The way Jesus humbled himself by dying the death we deserve is the purest form of humility and love, and is the example we should all follow as we seek to think of ourselves less.

Another example from scripture is the woman in Luke seven, presumably Mary of Bethany, who, when she poured the precious oil from her alabaster jar over Jesus, gave up everything of worth she possessed to love and honor Him, and faced scorn for doing so. She recognized Jesus was her Savior and was to be honored, and Jesus responded by forgiving her sins.

What does humility look like for us today?

Philippians 2:4-5 is a perfect answer to this question: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Looking out for the interests of others instead of your own could look like thinking before you speak, respecting someone by listening to them, sacrificing your time or energy to do something helpful for others, or going out of your way to make someone smile.

We as humans will never be able to attain the greatness of God. He is the ONLY one who has the power to heal the sick, raise the dead, and forgive sins. As Christians, Jesus has saved us from the wrath of God by dying the horrible death we all deserved. So what else should be our response other than to be humbled and submit to Him, thinking of Him above all others, and especially above ourselves?

In closing, I want to leave you with a question to consider as you go about your week, and that is, “How can I make thinking of myself less a habit, starting today?”