Humility – A fundamental Christian value

WHILE PRIDE IS SELF-SEEKING AND SELF-PROMOTION, HUMILITY IS THE OPPOSITE, WHICH JESUS PRECISELY EMBODIED IN HIS LIFE.

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Whether we realize it or not, every human holds specific core values that guide their decisions, actions, priorities, and behavior.

Our upbringing, life experiences, learning, cultural influences, friends, and family have all contributed to shaping our value system. Fallen humanity tends to drift toward ‘misplaced values’ that lead them to prioritize the temporal and sensual things of this world. When someone considers wealth and position as their highest values, their life trajectory will be set on getting what they think is important through ‘hook or crook.’

When Jesus challenged the Pharisees who loved money, he said, ‘What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight’ (Luke 16:15). Jesus’ words make it abundantly clear that heaven’s values stand in stark contrast to those of worldly values. Therefore, Jesus was intentional in teaching kingdom values throughout his ministry, aiming to instill them in his followers’ hearts so they would be oriented toward a value-driven life and exemplify kingdom living.

One of the central core values Jesus lived out was humility. The life mission of Jesus was not ‘to be served by others but to serve and give his life as ransom for many’ (Matthew 20:28). In a self-centered world, Jesus lived an ‘others-centered’ life. The Bible places a lot of emphasis on this virtue of humility for a reason. The ‘original sin’ that eventually led to the downfall of Lucifer was ‘pride,’ and the antidote to pride is none other than humility. Pride is a sin that God cannot tolerate or ignore, and the story of Lucifer teaches that pride will never attain pardon from the Lord. Saint Augustine famously said, ‘It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.’ While pride is self-seeking and self-promotion, humility is the opposite, which Jesus precisely embodied in his life. In other words, ‘humility is the ability to die to ourselves.’ A close study of the Bible will reveal that many of the blessings God bestows depend on this fundamental value: humility. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Those who exalt them- selves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Matthew 23:12).

Two vividly contrasting pictures can be drawn from the Bible stories. The first is the story of a prideful king, Nebuchadnezzar, the emperor of Babylon, who took his kingdom to unmatched glory. At the height of his fame, he began exalting himself, ignoring the reality that Almighty God had positioned and caused him to succeed in every- thing. His self-glorification caught the attention of heaven, and God decided to humble that prideful man. After a humiliating seven-year period, he learned the lesson the hard way. He acknowledged that ‘God can humble those who walk in pride’ (Daniel 4:37).

By contrast, the attitude of Jesus Christ is seen in the image of humility. Paul says of Jesus that ‘he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross’ (Philippians 2:8). Jesus, being the King of Glory, humbled himself to the point of becoming a human and experiencing a cruel death on the cross for the sake of others. Jesus ought not to be humbled by anyone; instead, he willfully and volun- tarily humbled himself to the will and purpose of his Father. Grasp- ing this virtuous quality firsthand from the life of Jesus, Peter admon- ishes in his letter to ‘clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble”’ (1 Peter 5:5). If we—all those who claim to follow Jesus, both believers and leaders alike—could embrace and embed the value of humility in our lives, the ugliness we see in Christendom today could be eradicated to a great extent.