Humility

Another important entry.  Worldly humility means refusing to acknowledge that which is good about yourself, and letting others do it for you.  Now, it is certainly a good practice not to be boastful, and it is certainly true also that statements from others about you are more effective than statements you make about yourself.  That is a Biblical principle: “Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men; for better it is that it be said unto thee, ‘Come up hither,’ than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.” (Pro 25:6, 7)

Let others speak well of you, essentially.  But now there is a way to take that to extremes in that, if we deny the things that Yahweh has made about us that are good and beneficial, this is actually a kind of dishonesty, and a faulty understanding of true humility.

Moses was able to say, “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” (Num 12:3)  Job was able to say, “The young men saw me, and hid themselves; and the aged arose, and stood up. The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth. The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.” (Job 28:8-10)  Daniel said, “My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me, forasmuch as before Him innocency was found in me.” (Dan 6:22a)

And lest you think that this way of speaking passed away after the perfect example of Christ was given, Paul said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” (Acts 21:1)  He also said, “Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.  Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” (1Cor 4:16, 11:1)  “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.” (Phil 3:17)  You know what they would have said of Paul if he made that statement today in Laodicea… But really, it would be just as true today as it was 2000 years ago – a Christian is worthy to be “followed” if he is walking in his integrity with knowledge of divine principles.

These are all examples of humility.  Now, a good example in the Bible of pride is Lucifer, who said, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” (Isa 14:14)  The difference between Lucifer and Paul, between Lucifer and Daniel, Lucifer and all the others, is that although all these made great claims, the righteous make claims that are true.  Moreover, Lucifer’s desire to be like the most high was based upon what he perceived as his own personal merit, whereas, the humans used as an example here ascribe their justification to Yahweh, who either gave them these gifts, or sustained them in the exercise of their abilities.

Yahweh said through the prophet Jeremiah, “But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am Yahweh which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these things I delight.” (Jer 9:24)  True humility is being able to admit, and even rejoice in, the talents that we bring to the Body of Christ, but we “glory” that these things have come about, or have been made useful, only through our connection with Him.  This is precisely what Paul was doing in his letters to the Corinthians and Philippians; he was saying, “imitate me” in these characteristics of Yahweh that I portray: lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness.

What about “teachableness”?

Teachableness is also a part of it, yes. In fact, false humility is often a barrier to being genuinely teachable. We’ve tried to teach some people, for example, the Bible’s statements on Victory.  Some of the responses we have encountered have been like, “Well, I don’t think I am good enough for that kind of doctrine,” or “That’s too deep for me.”

This is not true humility... this is a rejection of Christ’s gift of faith and wisdom. The truly humble will receive instruction easily.