Humility, the Nature of God

The call for humility of all saints is one that much attention  should be given to irrespective  of the pedigree of ones social standing. This is most important because God has called us into humility just as He is when He said in Matthew 11:29

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.

This scripture is an evident of the life Jesus Christ came to live in the 33 years He dwelled with man. He who was God by himself humbled himself before all men, that is, all category of people, the blind, the lame, widows, sinners, the rich, the poor, those with all forms of infirmities etc and even death on the cross which was noted to be the worst form of death. philippians 2:5-8 put it this way;

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

If humility was the nature of God, what then is humility as mentioned many times in the bible as righteous trait to manifest in our lives for greater impact and upliftment and how we can achieve this noble trait or character.

Humility according to the Miriam Webster’s dictionary is defined as freedom from pride or arrogance, the quality or state of being humble. This definition introduces as to the direct opposite traits of humility (pride or arrogance). The bible describe them as traits that manifest before fall; Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). Thus, to live a life of humility, one must be sure to shirk all forms of pride and arrogance that may come forth. They are opposing traits and does not go hand in hand, you cannot be proud and be humble and vice versa. The Holy scriptures gives several examples of great people who out of their pride fell or lost their possessions. Will give few examples to illustrate; The golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar according to Daniel chapter 4, Pharoah refuses to listen Moses to let the Israelites go as recorded Exodus chapter 8, Uzziah’s pride leads to death of many as recorded in 2 Chronicle chapter 26.

The Hebrew word for “pride” can literally be translated as “high.” The Hebrew word for “pride” can also be translated as “haughtiness,” “boastfulness,” “arrogance,” or “conceit.” As we see from these great examples above, sinful pride is when you choose to love yourself more than God and the people around you.

Moreover, humility can also be defined as a life characterised as genuine, a lack of arrogance and a modest view of oneself. The latter part of this definition will be my point of reference. It reads ‘… a modest view of oneself’. Humility thus, requires as not to think so highly of ourselves. Romans 12:3 put it this way;

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

Why? Because God resist the proud. His nature from which we are supposed to learn is a life of humility, gentleness, being sober etc and anything in contravention to that will face His opposition.

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”(James 4:6)

Humility therefore, is loving God with all your heart and mind and putting Him first in all your endeavors. We must be conscious of the fact that our life of humility must be in reverence to God and Him alone.

Let’s explore more on the subject of humility.

To be Continue…