Philippians 2:3 (AMP)
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit [through factional motives, or strife], but with [an attitude of] humility [being neither arrogant nor self-righteous], regard others as more important than yourselves.”
Humility is one key distinguishing character of a true disciple of Jesus Christ. A humble person is one who is not arrogant, neither are they self-righteous but instead they regard others as more important than themselves.
Jesus displayed the same humility in that though he was equal with God, he made himself of no reputation and took on the form of a bond servant humbling himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2)
The bible tells us that God himself resists the proud but He lifts the humble. Humility is not something we pray for, it is something we put on willingly because the bible tells us to put on humility, it goes on to tell us to humble ourselves before the Lord and He will lift us up.
It is only when we humble ourselves that we are then able to serve others with a genuine heart because we don’t see ourselves as better than them. It is sad that in today’s society we have Christians who look down on others, Christians who believe that because they are children of God then they are better that those who have not embraced Christ. Even among Christians we have those who think they are better than others because “their church” is more fancy than the church down the road.
The more God lifts us up, the more we need to humble ourselves because if we do not then pride can take root in our hearts and we get to a place where we feel entitled to this and that. It is at that place that we stop serving people and we start using people for our own benefits because we have a sense of entitlement and we feel we are better so we must have this and that. Our prayers also become so self focused and we forget the fact that we have been called to reach the lost.
Jesus tells us in Matt 23:11 that the greatest among us will be the servant of all, meaning the more we grow in Christ, the more we should grow in our service to others but is that the case?
Jesus did not come to be served but to serve and He did that from a place of humility. May we be his true disciples as we walk in humility and serve one another!
Are there areas in your life where you need to humble yourself? What are you going to do about them? How are you serving others in your church or community? The greatest must be the servant of all in Gods kingdom, so, how great are you?
