WHAT TRAIT DOES GOD ESTEEM MOST?

This was basically the question that Jesus’ disciples had asked Him: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:1). Jesus answered, “humility”:

·       “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3-4 ESV)

How do children exemplify humility, and what must we do to humble ourselves “like this child?” Jesus gives us an important hint. It’s not just any child who exemplifies humility but “one of these little ones who believe in me”:

·       “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6)

Well, what characterizes one who believes in Jesus? To believe in Jesus is trust in Jesus and not in anything else. Jeremiah contrasts trust in self against a trust in God:

·       Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD...Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes…” (Jeremiah 17:5, 7-8)

The one who trusts in God rather than in himself is the one who has despaired of himself and of having any merit before God. Paul had gladly accepted the fact that he could no longer boast in his own righteousness in order that he could trust in Jesus alone:

·       Indeed, I count everything [that I had trusted in] as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. (Philippians 3:8-9)

To “gain Christ,” Paul understood that he had to reject any trust in his own righteousness. His hope would now be exclusively in the righteousness of Christ. This is the way little children are. They lack any belief in their own entitlement. They don’t generally tell their parents, “You own me! I am entitled to a better life and more than what you are giving me.” Instead, they understand that what they are given is because their parents love them.

This too is the understanding we need to have. We must not believe, “God, you owe me. I have my rights.” Rather, there is only one thing that we deserve:

·       For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

The closer I get to God, the better I understand this, and the more I appreciate humility and those who have been clothed with this humble understanding.