How to stay Humble (Part 1)

Humility is one of the most vital attitudes that every christian must have to lead a healthy and fruitful life. Yet, our sinful nature and the world we live in, makes it incredibly difficult to stay humble. Pride is one of the most obnoxious things to God, and the Bible teaches that God resists the proud while he gives grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:34). Elsewhere in scripture we see that God knows the proud from afar (Psalms 138:6). In the light of these verses, every Christian ought to find ways to stay humble at all times. There might be times when everyone claps for you and you feel like you have achieved something great that sets you apart from the rest. There might be other times when you feel lower and inferior to everyone else due to some failure or lack in your life, even then you must remain humble before the Lord and before men.

Now, many people confuse humility with timidity, lack of confidence, shyness and even fear. But, this is wrong in the light of scripture. Consider what Paul writes to a young Timothy in 2 Tim 1:7.

"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."  - 2 Tim 1:7

The Spirit of God that is in every believer gives him power, love and discipline and not fear or timidity. Therefore, to confuse timidity with humility is a gross error. Well then what is humility?

Humility is knowing who you are in the light of scripture and reflecting all glory unto God. The Humble man is a realistic man, he knows his abilities, he knows his past and no amount of boasting or flattering speech will get to him. His feet are on the ground and his head is not in the clouds. In the next post, we will learn how we can go about being humble, through all circumstances of life.