God Rewards Humility
We are reminded over and over again in God’s Word that God rewards the humble and works against the proud (1 Peter 5:5). Unfortunately, we often have misconceptions about what humility is. Author Patrick Lencioni once remarked, “humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.” It is not self-deprecating and believing other people are more important than me, or I am less valuable than others, that they are better than me. Rather, we model ourselves afterJesus, who demonstrated perfect humility. He knew exactly who he was, God’s Son, and had strong self-confidence in his identity, which allowed him to live out his mission with boldness. But he wasn’t arrogant or prideful about it. Jesus didn’t look down on others, he didn’t use his status, authority, and power for his own gain. Instead, out of love, in humility, he considered the needs of others ahead his own (Phil. 2:1-11). This brought him to earth to be one of us in all our frailness and limitations, and even though he did no wrong, he died a brutal death for us.
If we are to be humble like Jesus we need to have the mind of Jesus so we too can think of ourselves less and consider the needs of others equal to or even ahead of our own. If we are married, how do we think about and put the “interests” of our spouse ahead of our own. If we are a parent, how do we think about and put the “interests” of our child(ren) ahead of our own? This is the humility God is looking for and rewards.