HUMILITY – ITS ESSENCE, ORIGIN, ADVANTAGES

A Roman centurion, a captain over 100 soldiers, had asked Jesus to heal his beloved servant. However, when Jesus began to head to his home, this powerful man said something stunning:

·       “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. (Matthew 8:8-10 (ESV)

If anyone had been worthy of respect, it was this Roman. However, he responded that he was not worthy that Jesus should even come to his home. Instead, the Roman understood that Jesus only had to speak the word.

Our self-esteem driven culture would say that this Roman had a mental problem, since he believed that he was unworthy. However, the centurion had displayed great wisdom, humility, and faith, as Jesus had acknowledged.

These three elements – wisdom, faith, and humility – always go together. Wisdom always involves a keen understanding of oneself. The self is the lens through which we understand everything else. If we do not understand ourselves, we certainly will not understand others and life itself.

Humility displays self-knowledge of our moral failures and inadequacies. It therefore takes courage to be humble and to engage what is painful and normally repressed. When we understand that we can no longer place our faith and trust in ourselves or in others, we turn to God. This is the fruit of wisdom, which the Roman clearly displayed.

Humility and faith are the fruit of wisdom and self-knowledge:

·       Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition [pride] in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. (James 3:13-17)

Humility is not self-punishment or the quest for humiliating experiences. It merely acknowledges the truth about itself and the depths of our need. Humility embraces wisdom and gives birth to “good conduct.” Humility is the opposite of pride and arrogance. The “wisdom” of pride is “earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” Its by-products are “disorder and every vile practice.” Why? Pride seeks to selfishly elevate itself, even at the expense of others – a good prescription for immorality and conflict, both internally and with others. It is self-absorbed, while humility, in its brokenness, is focused on the things Above. Therefore, humility seeks to treat others with the same mercy that we have received.

The fruits of humility and its close association with wisdom and faith are displayed in the life of a gentile woman who asked Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Meanwhile, Jesus’ disciples were urging Him to send her away, but to teach them a lesson regarding their unjustified pride, Jesus told the woman that it wasn’t right to give what was intended for Jews to Gentile dogs. At this, His disciples were probably cheering.

However, this wise and faithful woman would not give up. Instead, she argued that even dogs eat what falls from the table of the Jews.

·       Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. (Matthew 15:28)

Her wisdom, humility, and faith exceeded that of Jesus’ proud disciples, and her petition was granted.

The fruit of humility is wisdom and faith. The fruit of these three associates are the many blessings of God – gratefulness, hope, peace, joy, and even improved relationships.

But before we become proud of our humility and faith, let us consider their origin. Puffed up with pride and my many “positive” affirmations, I had been living a life of self-deception, alienated from myself and from everyone else. However, the Lord broke through my darkness with assurances of His love as He exposed me to the fires of suffering. These exposed the lies which had “nourished” me. The pain and hopelessness were so great that I had no other recourse but to trust in my mysterious God more than I ever had:

·       Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word…It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. (Psalm 119:67, 71-72)