If you say you’re humble, you’re wrong. Thinking you’re humble makes about as much sense as being proud of your humility.
That’s the way people think about the virtue of humility. It’s okay if someone calls you humble, but you can’t refer to yourself that way. And if someone points out your meekness, how are you supposed to respond? Agree? Disagree? You can say, “thank you,” but do you believe what the person said? Whether you do or not, you keep it to yourself. That’s how “you can’t know that you’re humble.”
But according to the Bible, you can know that you’re humble. If that sounds odd, well, that’s true about a lot of what Scripture says. But God knows what He’s doing, so let’s see what the Word tells us about being aware of our humility.
Jesus
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” – Matthew 11:29
We’ll start with the Lord Jesus Christ. With no sense of irony or contradiction, He announced to His disciples that He Himself was humble. Jesus didn’t worry the logic that His assertion undermined His claim. He knew who He was and declared the truth of His character without hesitation.
But does Christ serve as our role model in this instance? We agree that He’s humble because He’s sinless. Jesus isn’t arrogant, doesn’t brag, and doesn’t exalt Himself at the expense of others. As the Son of God, He’s the embodiment of perfection.
So we have an excuse not to copy Jesus; He’s too far out of reach for us.
Paul
“I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents.” – Acts 20:19
Unlike Jesus, the apostle Paul wasn’t God in the flesh. He was a normal human being like the rest of us and he needed salvation like we all do.
But somehow Paul could claim that humility characterized his ministry. And he made this statement to the elders of the Ephesian church, so he was presenting himself as a role model. Paul wanted them to serve the Lord the way he did. It looks like humility is an ingredient in the recipe.
Many of us believe we have a good reason for not imitating Christ’s confidence in His own humility–He’s God and we’re not! But what do we do about Paul? Ignore what he said? Accuse him of being smug? Or should we take his comment seriously?
Church
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” – Ephesians 4:2
As it turns out, Paul not only lectured the Ephesian elders, he followed it up with a letter to the whole church. And in it he challenges every believer to exhibit humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance. In case there’s any doubt, the apostle qualifies the list with the word “completely” (in the original Greek it’s “all”). You know what that means? No more wiggle room!
Application
I understand that it sounds arrogant to say, “I am humble.” But go ahead and try it. That’s right; copy Jesus and Paul and speak it out loud. If you did, how did it make you feel? Silly, egotistical, indifferent, or upbeat?
What’s the point of this exercise? Why investigate the topic of conscious humility? It leads us to a consideration of the nature of virtue. If virtues develop from our own efforts, then it’s right for us to feel proud of our accomplishments. But if humility, like the other virtues, is a gift of God, then we have nothing to brag about. The only proper response is gratitude.
Are you grateful for the virtues the Spirit is forming in your character? If so, then praise God! Through Jesus Christ, you’re humble!
