4. Get off your high horse

Hennie Symington

For all those who make themselves great will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be made great. Luke. 14:11
Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.”Mark 9:35

Serving the Kingdom in humility
Humility does not feature strongly in the CVs of the successful. Nor is it a virtue which is highly regarded in Western society. We think it’s intended for saints only because it doesn’t quite fit in with the modern "image" with the emphasis placed squarely on the ego. In fact, today’s upwardly mobile young people see humility as a little old-fashioned.

Cult of the ego

In reality, our whole culture is built on the cult of the ego. A healthy self-image is equal to salvation, and pity the one whose ego resembles a wilting flower. The Bible, however, sketches a different picture of the self where humility is rated far beyond self love.

Humility comes through self-knowledge and acknowledgement of your own limitations. Self-knowledge stems from your knowledge of God. Only by becoming aware of at God's greatness and wisdom, are we able to realise how small we are. When we see how humble Jesus is, we realise how little we understand of humility.

Humility is not an abstract trait
It’s hard for us not to want to be the top dog. Even in the humblest of tasks we want to be the best: best mom, top dad and best in everything you do. Instead of being happy we burden ourselves all kinds of musts and needs and unreachable goals. Instead of simplicity, we seek wealth, power and prestige. Instead of obeying God in all things, we follow our own path which time and again leads to disappointment. Jesus, the humble one, is our perfect example of humility because it is in humility that we attain our full stature as human being.

How does one pursue humility?
By taking on “the nature of a servant" as Christ did. He who is equal with God, did not consider it a loss. Do you?

Prayer for today:

Jesus, true humility doesn’t feature strongly in my vocabulary. Teach me to submit myself to God's plan for the salvation of mankind giving up the selfish kind of life I lead.