The Most Humble Person That Ever Lived
THE MOST HUMBLE PERSON THAT EVER LIVED
s we have seen, to be truly humble you have to be kind and gentle but also brave and fearless. You cannot have one without the other. This polarity of characteristics in humility is most clearly seen in the life of Jesus. In Revelations 5:5-6, Jesus is referred to as both a lion and a lamb. In Matthew 11, He refers to Himself as gentle and meek. He is, after all, the God of the universe who has restrained His power to become one of us.
The following words are those of Napoleon at the end of his life, describing the differences between Jesus and himself:
I die before my time and my body shall be given back to the earth and devoured by worms. What an abysmal gulf between my deep miseries and the eternal Kingdom of Christ. I marvel that whereas the ambitious dreams of myself and of Alexander and of Caesar should have vanished into thin air, a Judean peasant—Jesus—should be able to stretch his hands across the centuries and control the destinies of men and nations.
Here are three famous men—Alexander the Great, Caesar, and Napoleon— seeking to control the world through their own power. When we see their lives contrasted with one man, Jesus, and His humble life as a carpenter, we marvel at how truly extraordinary He must have been that the world was so powerfully changed through His life of humility.
Napoleon goes on to say,
Time the great destroyer, powerless to extinguish this sacred flame, time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most. I have often thought of it. This it is which proves to me quite convincingly the divinity of Jesus Christ.
James Stewart, a Scottish philosopher and minister had this to say about the humility of Christ,
When I speak of the mystery of personality in Christ, I am thinking of the startling coalescence of contrariety that you find in Jesus. He was the meekest and lowliest of all the sons of men, yet He said that he would come on the clouds of heaven in the glory of God. He was so austere that evil spirits and demons cried out in terror at His coming, yet He was so genial, winsome, and approachable that children loved to play with Him, and the little ones nestled in His arms. No one was ever half so kind or compassionate towards sinners, yet no one ever spoke such red hot scorching words about sin. He would not break the bruised reed and His whole life was love, yet on one occasion He demanded of the Pharisees how they expected to escape the damnation of hell. He was a dreamer of dreams and a seer of visions yet for sheer stark naked realism. He has all of our self-styled realists beaten. He was a servant of all, washing the disciples' feet, yet masterfully He strode into the Temple, and the hucksters and traders fell over one another in their mad rush to get away from the fire they saw blazing in His eyes. There is nothing in history to compare with the life of Christ.
Author Henry G. Bosch has made this observation:
Socrates taught for forty years, Plato for fifty, Aristotle for forty, and Jesus for only three. Yet the influence of Christ's three-year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men who are among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity. Jesus painted no pictures, yet some of the finest paintings of Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration from him. Jesus wrote no poetry, but Dante, Milton, and scores of the world's greatest poets were inspired by him. Jesus composed no music, still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach, and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection of melody in the hymns, symphonies, and oratories they composed in his praise. Every sphere of human greatness has been enriched by this humble carpenter of Nazareth.
Use your imagination for a minute. If God gave you the task of creating a life, any life, for your son or your daughter, that would enable them to have a huge influence on the world, what would you choose? Assume you can determine their giftedness, their achievements, their wealth. What would you choose? President of the United States? King of England? Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? Senator? CEO of Apple? A rock star, a movie star, an Academy Award winner, a Heisman trophy winner? What would you choose? Most of us would choose power and influence, some type of celebrity status, a mover and a shaker, or a person of substance whose character, opinions, and actions extended deeply into the world of commerce and politics.
I ask that question because God could have easily provided any of them for Jesus. He could have put him in a wealthy Roman household, or in Athens, where all the scholarly influence resided. God could have given Jesus every advantage you could want in life, but instead He was born and lived in the most desolate part of the Roman Empire called Palestine. He lived a very quiet life with His parents for thirty years as a carpenter. He left almost no traces of Himself on earth, and He never owned any belongings or possessions that could be enshrined in a museum. He never wrote anything. He allowed Himself to be taken into custody. He was mocked, beaten, spat upon, and stripped naked in front of a massive crowd. He was taken to the cross and crucified between two criminals for all the world to see.
This was the ultimate act of humility, that Jesus Himself, the Son of the living God, the King of all Kings, would allow Himself to die a humiliating death on a cross. The Apostle Paul says, "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:8). And then as hard as it to believe, He asked God the Father to forgive those who executed Him. He was then unceremoniously buried in a borrowed tomb. Yet somehow Jesus and His small following have produced the dominant faith in Western civilization. How do you explain this?
Any serious student of history has to scratch his head and wonder how a small band of Christians could survive and even thrive in the ancient Roman world that was bound and determined to eradicate the Christian faith.
World renowned historian Will Durant has written some very interesting words on this topic in his classic book, The Story of Philosophy, which is still used in many classrooms as an introduction to philosophy. He is a Pulitzer Prize winning author, but he is most well-known for an elevenvolume series that he and his wife, Ariel, wrote. Although they spent over thirty-five years on this massive work entitled, The Story of Civilization, the Durants were not friends of the Christian faith. In this series, one of the volumes covers the history of the Roman Empire; from it we learn that after Jesus' death, the Christian religion was considered to be an enemy of Rome, and this hostility lasted for over 280 years.
In 312 A.D., the edict of Milan went into law legalizing Christianity, specifically Christian worship. In 381 A.D., under Constantine, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Durant's observation of what happened in Rome during this period of time is quite astonishing.
There is no greater drama in human record than the sight of a few Christians, scorned and oppressed by a succession of emperors, bearing all trials with a fierce tenacity, multiplying quietly, building order while their enemies generated chaos, fighting the sword with the word, brutality with hope, and at last defeating the strongest state that history has known. Caesar and Christ had met in the arena and Christ had won.
Durant goes on to say,
That a few simple men should in one generation have invented so powerful and appealing a personality, so lofty an ethic and so inspiring a vision of human brotherhood, would be a miracle far more incredible than any recorded in the Gospels. After two centuries of Higher Criticism, the outlines of the life, character, and teaching of Christ remain reasonably clear and constitute the most fascinating feature in the history of Western man.
TO THE SHOCK AND CONSTERNATION OF HIS FRIENDS
AND SECULAR COLLEAGUES, GIRARD ANNOUNCED
THAT HE HAD BECOME A CHRISTIAN BECAUSE OF THE
UNEXPLAINABLE HUMBLE LIFE OF CHRIST.
Without realizing it, Durant's words are an expression of life's greatest paradox, that strength and power are found in humility.
Philip Yancey wrote in one of his books about the life of French philosopher and anthropologist René Girard, who was a very accomplished individual. He ended his career as a distinguished professor at Stanford. At a certain point in his studies and research, Girard began to notice that a cavalcade of liberation movements had occurred over a relatively short time span—the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, the Civil Rights movement, women's rights, minority rights, and human rights had gathered speed in the twentieth century. The trend mystified Girard because he found nothing comparable in his readings in ancient literature. Through his further research, Girard traced this phenomenon back to the historical figure of Jesus.
It struck Girard that Jesus' story cuts against the grain of every heroic story from its time. Indeed, Jesus chose poverty and disgrace. He spent his infancy as a refugee. He lived in a minority race under a harsh regime and died as a prisoner. From the very beginning, Jesus took the side of the underdog, the poor, the oppressed, the sick, and the marginalized. His crucifixion, Girard concluded, introduced a new plot to history. The victim becomes a hero by being a victim. Girard recognized that two thousand years later, the reverberations of Christ's life have not stopped. Ironically, at the center of the Christian faith hangs a suffering Christ on the cross, dying in shame, for all the world to see.
To the shock and consternation of his friends and secular colleagues, Girard announced that he had become a Christian because of the unexplainable humble life of Christ.
THE PATH TO HUMILITY
PART I
"THANKFULNESS IS A SOIL IN WHICH PRIDE DOES NOT
EASILY GROW."
–Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury
THE PATH TO HUMILITY,
PART I
he first place to look as we seek a life of humility is to go back to C.S. Lewis's words in Mere Christianity. In the chapter on pride, which he titled "The Great Sin," he closes with these words:
Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call "humble" nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all (emphasis added).
If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realise that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.
John Dickson says that humble people don't dazzle you with their humility. Even though it is such a powerful force in our lives, it is rather a low-key virtue. I think you may not initially spot a humble person because they are not at all concerned about appearing humble in the eyes of others.
For many of you reading this book, you may have never thought much about pride as it relates to your own life. Most of us are not aware of its presence, yet we so easily see it and despise it when it is clearly present in the lives of others. Yet we all must acknowledge that we battle with the issue of pride, particularly in the thoughts of our hearts. I am reminded of the words of Mary in the Magnificat when she says: "He has done mighty
deeds with His arm, He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart … He has exalted those who were humble" (Luke 1:51, 52).
OUR RESPONSIBILITY
Humility does not come naturally to us. As we grow up, we find that pride is ingrained in our very being as we seek to prove to the world that our lives matter. We want to stand out in the crowd. Very few of us want to be completely out of the limelight with a sense that his or her life is not important.
HUMILITY IS A CHOICE THAT WE MUST FIRST MAKE
AND THEN PURSUE.
One of the most important truths I have learned over the course of my life is that we are responsible for seeking a humble life and cultivating a humble heart. We must therefore realize that humility is a choice that we must first make, and then pursue.
So what are we to do? How does true humility become a reality in our lives? Clearly you cannot flip a switch and become humble or generate humility as an act of your will. It has to be cultivated daily. There is a key phrase in both the Old and New Testaments that gives insight into our responsibility. It is the phrase "humble yourself." We are called to humble ourselves in the presence of God. Consider the following words from the Bible.
If My people, who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sins and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Moses and Aaron went before the Pharaoh and said, "Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?'" (Exodus 10:3)
Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Mathew 18:4).
Three times it is recorded in the Gospels: "Whoever humbles himself shall be exalted" (Mathew 23:12; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14).
Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you (James 4:10).
Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time (1 Peter 5:6).
In his book, Pride Versus Humility, Derek Prince says that when God speaks of us humbling ourselves, He is placing this responsibility on us. He says, "We can and we must humble ourselves by a decision of our wills. No one can do this for us—we must do it for ourselves." It clearly is a mandate from God and is our responsibility alone. Prince believes there is a significant principle involved here that was of particular importance to Jesus, and that Christ placed special emphasis on it.
Jesus continually reminded His hearers that there is a law at work in our lives—one that also governs the entire universe. It is the law that relates to humility and pride. Here is the way Jesus outlines this statute: Whoever exhibits pride will be humbled; whoever exhibits humility will be exalted.
Once more, this precept of which Jesus speaks is universal. It applies anywhere, to any person, at any time, and in any situation. Often, when I have been teaching on this theme, I have summed up the precept by saying, "The way up is down; the way down is up." If we want to go up, we must start by going down; but if we start by going up, we will end by going down. "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
HUMBLING OURSELVES
We have reached a point now where you are probably wondering, "What does it mean to humble yourself? How is this done?" The Bible seems to indicate there are a number of ways a person humbles himself before God. In the balance of this chapter, I am going to lay out what I believe is the most important way in which we humble ourselves. However, please know, this is my opinion, and the reason I believe this is so significant is because it has been so meaningful in my own life and has changed me.
I want to introduce this thought by walking through some very instructive verses from the eighth chapter of the book of Deuteronomy. As I go through these verses, I will use some of my own words to amplify and add commentary to the text.
In the opening verses, God is addressing the Israelites who have been wandering in the desert for forty years. He then explains what He has been attempting to accomplish in their lives during this forty-year period of hardship. He says in verse 2 that He did this to humble them, testing them to know what was in their hearts. In verse 3, He says that He humbled them by letting them be hungry, and then feeding them Himself with manna that they did not know about so that they would understand that human beings do not live by bread alone. He is telling them life is more than a physical existence, and that we must seek, listen to, and follow God Himself. However, He does not say that over this forty-year period He wanted to teach them to love others or to be morally good. He makes it clear that "I was teaching you to be humble and how to rely on Me."
Then God tells them He is about to lead them into the Promised Land. He describes it in these words:
For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you shall eat food without scarcity, in which you shall not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper (Deuteronomy 8:7-9).
After 40 years of wandering through the desert, He was leading them into what would feel like paradise to them. And in verse 10 He says once they
arrive and are experiencing this new life, they are to bless the Lord their God and be thankful for His goodness towards them.
Then God offers them a stern warning. Before He leads them into this wonderful new land and gives them all this prosperity and wonderful surroundings, He warns them, "Beware." Whenever we see God use this word, we should take notice. He warns them about forgetting the Lord their God and not keeping His commandments. Otherwise, what so often happens is that after they have eaten and are fully satisfied and have built beautiful houses and lived in them, and when their herds and flocks multiply, and their silver and gold multiply, and all that they own grows and multiplies, their hearts can become proud and they will forget the Lord their God.
In verse 16, He reminds them again that He fed them manna in the wilderness for forty years to humble them, and He says He did it for their ultimate good and well-being. Then God says something of great significance as it relates to pride and humility. He tells them if they do not remember Him and thank and praise Him, "You will say in your heart, my power and the strength of my hands have made me this wealth." This is the heart of pride and arrogance.
Finally, God provides a key perspective on the humble life in verse 18 when He says, "But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you the power to make wealth …"
Humility begins with understanding who deserves the credit for all that we are and all that we have. When we believe that it comes from ourselves, we will become proud and have no place for God in our lives. However, when we see that all that we are and all that we have is a gift from Him, it will keep us humble; and most significantly, our hearts will naturally overflow with thanksgiving to Him.
At the very end of his life, King David gathered the Jewish assembly together. It was at a time when the nation of Israel was at its very strongest economically, militarily, and spiritually. It would be natural for him to gloat and take at least some of the credit. Instead, you see this prayer of acknowledgment, which are some of the last recorded words of David:
So, David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord God of Israel our Father, forever and
ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Thine is the dominion, O Lord, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from Thee and Thou dost rule over all, and in Thy hand is power and might; and it lies in Thy hand to make great, and to strengthen everyone. Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name" (1 Chronicles 29:10).
David recognized who deserved the credit and the glory for the establishment of the great nation of Israel.
This passage reminds me of the words of the famous author Alex Haley who wrote the best-selling novel Roots. Haley says that in his office is a picture of a turtle sitting on top of a fence post. He said the picture is there to remind him of a lesson he learned long ago. If you see a turtle on a fence post, he explains, you know he had some help. He says, "Anytime I start thinking, Wow, isn't this marvelous what I have done, look how great I am, I look at that picture and remember how this turtle, me, got up on that post."
We all need to be reminded how we got to where we are today in life.
A HEART OF GRATITUDE
Humble people are grateful people. They recognize who deserves the credit for everything in their lives. True heartfelt thanksgiving is a way in which we humble ourselves. Pride causes us to forget God while thanksgiving causes us to remember Him. Being thankful is a critical issue in our lives because the Bible is replete with the command to "Remember the Lord your God."
The problem is that we are not naturally grateful people. How often do we have to remind our children to say, "Thank you"? If you were to win some type of award, would your first thought be to thank those who helped you along the way and to thank God for your talent, ability, and the opportunities He has given you?
As I have studied the importance of gratitude over the years, I have gained a greater and greater appreciation for its significance and recognize the deadly consequences of ingratitude. Os Guinness says ingratitude is a
moral, spiritual, and emotional carelessness about the realities of life. Tim Keller says every time something good happens in your life and you are not grateful to God, you are putting a deep mark on your soul. Author and theologian Warren Wiersbe says, "An ungrateful heart is fertile soil for all types of evil."
I have done a study of the Bible on ingratitude and those who were not thankful and have concluded that ungratefulness is linked to godlessness and evil. The Apostle Paul spells this out clearly in Romans 1:21 when he speaks of people who once knew God but have forgotten Him: "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."
Os Guinness says that in the Bible the theme of remembering God is directly linked to giving Him thanks and is inseparable from faith. People of strong faith remember, and those who remember are those who give thanks. Those who forget God are ungrateful. This is true for nations as well as individuals.
The great Nobel Prize winning author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn made this observation about his own country:
Over a half century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of old people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: "Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened."
Since then I have spent well-nigh 50 years working on the history of our revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: "Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened."
BEING INTENTIONALLY GRATEFUL
If you are truly going to cultivate a grateful heart, you are going to have to be intentional about it. It is something you have to plan to do every day. Author Henri Nouwen said,
In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.
Every morning I spend the first ten to fifteen minutes of the day giving thanks to God. I start by acknowledging all that I am and all that I have is a gift from Him and that I am grateful. I thank Him for the gift of life and for a new day. I thank Him for my health and for keeping me in this life (Psalm 66:9). I thank Him for my wife and our life together as well as for our three children. I thank Him for the other relationships He has blessed me with. I thank Him for our home and the financial resources He has provided us. I thank Him for the work He has called me to do and also the talents and abilities he has blessed me with. I give thanks for all the spiritual blessings of life (Ephesians 1:3). Finally, I end by thanking Him for the incredible difference He has made in my life. Where would I be without Him?
I am convinced thanking God has made such a difference in my life. Over time I have found that it leads me to give thanks throughout the day as I recognize His good hand in all that I do. I have come to realize this not only pleases Him, but it has also transformed my life.
This should not be surprising when you consider the research of Dr. Hans Selye, an Austrian-Canadian endocrinologist who died in 1982. Selye was among the first scientists to discover the impact that emotions play on a person's health. Over his life he wrote thirty books on the subject of stress and human emotion. At the end of his life, he summarized his research and concluded that a heart of gratitude is the single most nourishing response that leads to good health. Selye believed that thanksgiving and gratitude are therapy for the soul, and that a healthy soul is beneficial to physical health.
WHAT THE RESEARCH REVEALS
As I was doing research on thanksgiving and gratitude, I discovered two recent articles that presented sound arguments on how gratitude has such a powerful impact on our lives. The first article was from Psychology Today and was entitled, "How Gratitude Influences Loving Behavior." The second was from The Wall Street Journal and was entitled, "Thanksgiving and Gratitude: The Science of Happier Holidays." The authors of each of these pieces relied on scientific research to come to their conclusions. What we learn from them is:
1. Gratitude is the foundation of satisfying relationships. There is nothing more deadly than when people in a love relationship feel taken for granted. 2. Gratitude expresses appreciation. Human interaction flourishes when people feel appreciated. 3. People who are the most materialistic in our culture are very ungrateful and extremely unhappy. The relationship between materialism and gratitude run in the opposite direction. Ungrateful people are clearly unhappy people. 4. Gratitude acknowledges all the great benefits of life and enables us to savor all that is good in our lives. 5. Finally, and it should come as no surprise, a thankful heart is associated with a number of positive health benefits. Grateful people have stronger immune systems, report fewer symptoms of illness, and enjoy a better quality of sleep. They are also less reactive to stressful events.
Thanksgiving begins with the recognition of who really deserves the credit and glory for what we do. It is most pleasing to God, but it also does something to us. It is life-giving and transformative. Gratitude is where the path of humility begins.
THE PATH TO HUMILITY
PART 2
IF YOU PLAN TO BUILD A TALL HOUSE OF VIRTUES, YOU
MUST FIRST LAY DEEP FOUNDATIONS OF HUMILITY.
–Augustine, theologian and philosopher
THE PATH TO HUMILITY,
PART 2
hen we humble ourselves, it helps us counter the pride of selfrighteousness. Self-righteousness, you will recall, is to believe that you are morally and spiritually superior to others. The selfrighteous are convinced their good moral behavior puts them in good standing with God. They come to believe that only good people get into God's kingdom; the bad people, thankfully, are kept out. But this is clearly not the teaching of Christianity. In reality, it is the humble who are let in, and it is the proud and self-righteous who are turned away.
Humility is the lens through which we are able to see God; and as we come to know Him, it enables us to see ourselves as we really are. Jesus communicated this truth in His parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: "God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get." But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me, the sinner!" I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:9-14).
The proud Pharisee compares himself to the tax collector when he says, "I thank You I am not like other people … even like this tax collector." This Pharisee clearly displays an attitude of moral and spiritual superiority. The tax gatherer, on the other hand, sees only his sin and his need for forgiveness. He is truly humbled by virtue of recognizing his need for forgiveness of his sin.
George Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, made an observation about this parable that provides us with great insight. He describes this very religious, moral Pharisee, who believed in God, as feeling very good about himself. He was comfortable with his standing with God. Yet his pride blinded him, and he did not realize that something was terribly wrong with his life and he was not justified before God. Yet the humble tax gatherer—all the while bowing in his humility and contriteness —was justified before God and forgiven of his sin. At that moment you see a picture of a spiritually healthy and vibrant man—a man who was in right relationship with God.
In this parable Jesus also reveals another way in which we humble ourselves. Here the tax collector with great contrition confesses his sin before God. In reference to his confession Jesus says, "He who humbles himself will be glorified." The parable's meaning is clear—to confess our sins before God is a way we humble ourselves. This is why God tells us in Isaiah 66:2 that the person to whom He looks and has high regard for is the one who is humble, and contrite of spirit, and reveres His Word. There seems to be a clear link between humility and contrition.
Confession of sin is a forgotten practice today. In older traditional church worship services, each service would begin with a general confession of sin. The idea was to get our hearts right as we approach God to worship. You rarely see this happen today in modern worship services.
Many Christians think there is no need for us to confess our sins any longer because a person who puts their faith in Christ has been forgiven of all their sins and has eternal life. There is, therefore, no need to seek God's forgiveness. What they fail to realize is that there are two types of forgiveness.
First, there is what is called "judicial forgiveness." It is the idea of being forgiven or pardoned by a judge who sits in judgment over those who have broken the law. Jesus one day will judge the world. Those who have recognized they are sinful people and have need of God's forgiveness, who recognize that Jesus bore our sins on His body at the cross and then put their faith in Him, will receive judicial forgiveness. They will not have to account for their sins because Jesus accounted for them at the cross. Christ Himself said that these people will not come into judgment (John 5:24) because they are forgiven.
When a person becomes a Christian, they are adopted into God's family, and He becomes their heavenly Father and is no longer their judge. As a child of God, they now have a new relationship with Him. So when Christians sin, it affects our relationship with our heavenly Father. Therefore we confess our sins to Him for the good of the relationship. Sin causes separation between us and God, and it keeps us from being close to Him. His forgiveness brings us together and re-connects us. This is what is called "fatherly forgiveness." We must confess our sin daily in order to have a close, growing relationship with our heavenly Father.
TO CONFESS OUR SINS BEFORE GOD IS A WAY WE
HUMBLE OURSELVES.
The book of James gives some insight into the relationship between humility, humbling ourselves, and confession of sin. In James 4:6 we are told God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. In verse eight, we are told to draw near to God and He will draw near to us. He says that before we can draw near, as sinners we must cleanse our hands and our hearts. We need to cleanse ourselves from not only the outer sins that people see but also the inner sins of the heart. As one commentator put it, "Your hands and heart symbolize your deeds and thoughts." Therefore, in order to really draw near to God, we must cleanse ourselves, and this is done by the confession of sin. Confessing our sin is, as Jesus said, a way we humble ourselves before God.
DEPENDING ON GOD
In the work that I do with businessmen, one truth that is quite apparent to me is that we all have struggles of some kind. We all are fighting some type of battle, sometimes on multiple fronts. However, we feel compelled not to show any weakness because as leaders we are not supposed to struggle; we are supposed to be competent and always have our act together.
As I said earlier, spiritual pride is the belief that we do not need God. Yet to truly humble ourselves, we have to be willing to acknowledge that we are
weak and needy and not masters of the universe.
Theologian Ole Hallesby said, "The word 'helplessness' is the single best word to describe the heart attitude we bring before God." This principle is very difficult for modern people who have been taught all their lives to be self-reliant and self-sufficient. If we are not careful, we can seal off the heart attitude that is most desirable to God. Philip Yancey says that the heart of prayer is a declaration of our dependence upon God.
John Calvin believed a major component of the humble life was seeing our weaknesses and inadequacy, which then generates a strong sense of our need to depend on God. He believed we needed to be ruthlessly honest about our flaws, our weaknesses, and our struggles before God, recognizing our hope for inner strength and power comes from God alone.
King David was a great and mighty warrior and king. Yet when you read his words and prayers in the Psalms, you see a man who was utterly dependent upon God. He openly shares his deficiencies, his fears, and his sin. His prayers declare his great needs. One of his prayers that I love to pray myself is Psalm 30:10, "Hear, O Lord and be gracious to me; O Lord, be my helper."
We humble ourselves when we go before God, declare our great needs before Him, and attest that He is our ultimate hope and adequacy. The Apostle Paul offers some interesting insight. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul speaks of a thorn in his flesh that was given to him. We do not know what this thorn actually was, but it was quite troubling to him. He tells us the purpose of this thorn was to keep him from exalting himself. Like all of us, Paul clearly struggled with pride. He then goes on to say,
"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).
God made it clear that He was not going to remove this thorn, but would instead give Paul the strength and power (His grace) to turn this weakness into a strength. Moreover, God desires to give all of us His grace to help us
in our weaknesses. Paul says that when we acknowledge our weaknesses before God, we find His strength. "When I am weak, then I am strong."
We humble ourselves before God when we acknowledge, "Lord I need You; I need Your strength. I cannot deliver myself from pride, greed, anger, and from judging others. I look to You to enable me to do that which I cannot do myself."
Life's greatest paradox is that strength is found in humility.
KEEPING A SECRET
A fourth way we humble ourselves can be very helpful in keeping us from seeking to impress others. Have you ever thought how much our lives are focused on what John Ortberg calls "impression management." So much of what we say and do is intended to impress others. We may casually name drop, mention our child's accomplishments, or talk about an exotic place where we have vacationed in the past. This happened even back in New Testament times, as Jesus says of the Pharisees, "They do all of their deeds to be noticed by men" (Matthew 23:5).
Sociologist George Herbert Mead explains this principle in a concept called "the generalized other." In our minds, there are certain people on whose judgment we measure our success and failure. Our lives are validated by what they think of us. However, the problem is that we never know in totality what any one person actually thinks of us.
Jesus provides some great instruction on this issue. He says,
Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you (Matthew 6:1-4).
The philosopher Dallas Willard has written some thoughts on what he calls "the discipline of secrecy." He says that we should intentionally abstain from seeking to make our good deeds and qualities known, although it should never involve deceit. He believes we should look to God to enable us to tame our hunger for fame and trying to gain the attention of others. Over time, as we practice this discipline, we will learn to embrace anonymity without the loss of our peace, joy, or purpose.
Willard says one of the great tragedies in our lives is holding the belief that all our virtues and accomplishments need to be advertised. We have this deep yearning that they must be known. The discipline of secrecy, rightly practiced, enables us to place all our public relations in the hands of God. By doing this, we allow Him to decide when our deeds need to be known. Willard says, "When we desire godly secrecy, our love and humility before God will develop to the point we'll not only see our friends, family, and associates in a better light, but we'll also develop the virtue of desiring their good above our own."
Back in the 1930s and 1940s, the most popular English novelist was a man by the name of Lloyd C. Douglas. He began his adult life as a Christian pastor and then became a writer.
Five of his books were made into movies. One of the most popular, The Robe, was made into a movie, which starred Richard Burton. It won two academy awards and was nominated for best picture. He also wrote an incredibly popular novel in 1929 entitled Magnificent Obsession which was made into a movie, twice. I had the opportunity to read this novel three or four years ago, and it was a fascinating book. (I read that this was one of John Wooden's favorite novels.)
The story is about Dr. Wayne Hudson who is struggling with deep depression and is on the edge of failure in his work. His wife has just died, and he goes to purchase a marker for her grave. As he looks at the various monuments, he encounters an eccentric but very talented sculptor by the name of Clive Randolph. They begin to engage in a conversation, and over time as they become more comfortable with each other, Randolph imparts to him a secret that he claims will transform the doctor's life.
Though Randolph does not completely lay out this wonderful secret all at once, when you piece it together it goes like this: Most people live depleted lives; they are weak, zestless, and have very little energy. The reason, he
contends, is that when we perform a good deed or some worthy achievement we want the world to know about it. We seek to advertise it and receive all the credit for it. On the other hand, when our lives are not going well and we are floundering, we carefully hide our problems or look for ways to deny them if we can. Randolph says that people, therefore, spend their lives pretending, always insecure and afraid of being found out.
Randolph tells Dr. Hudson that to remedy this situation and find power in his life, the simple secret is to reverse the strategy. In other words, he needed to keep his great deeds and accomplishments a secret and find people with whom he was willing to be vulnerable and share with them his struggles, fears, and secrets. Dr. Hudson began to apply this in his own life, and his depression lifted and he later became a famous brain surgeon.
Dr. Hobart Mowrer was a famous American psychologist who was fascinated by this novel, particularly with Randolph's secret formula. Dr. Mowrer decided to conduct some research into the life of Lloyd C. Douglas. He spent time interviewing Douglas's daughter, seeking to determine if her father had actually practiced Clive Randolph's secret formula for power.
Mowrer said it was not surprising "that until he was 50 years old, Douglas was a good but not outstanding minister and then, suddenly, became and remained to the end of his life the most widely read novelist in the English language." Mowrer concluded that if all the facts were known, Lloyd C. Douglas's own life would dramatically testify to the power of this principle which he called "the magnificent obsession."
DIFFICULT TO DETECT
In the opening chapter we looked at the words of C.S. Lewis and he said that one of the real problems with pride is how difficult it is to detect its presence in our own lives. We easily see it in the lives of others but are often blind to our own pride and arrogance.
Jesus gives us a glimpse into this problem in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:3, when He asks, "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?" He tells us that we need to focus on and deal with the logs in our own eye.
I have concluded that if we are to become humble people, we need to be aware of our pride and those moments when it is about to rear its ugly head. I regularly pray and ask God to show me the logs in my life, particularly the pride in my heart. However, let me warn you that God is faithful, and He will begin to show you your pride, and sometimes it can be really ugly when you see your heart. However, it will strip you of your selfrighteousness and humble you when you clearly see the depravity of your own heart. I would encourage you to pray this daily as you seek to cultivate a humble heart.