“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me;

for I am gentle and humble in heart;

and you shall find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and My load is light.”

Matt. 11:29-30

My husband, Bill, says (tongue in cheek), “I’m proud of my humility! It’s one of my strengths!” You’ll detect from the footnote that his “humor” doesn’t quite hit the bull’s eye for the definition!

But the question, Am I humble? can be answered positively, “Yes! I am humble!” “How can you say that, Anabel?” (Shocked expression!) Because Christ lives in me and He says of Himself, “I am gentle and humble in heart,” so I, too, am gentle and humble in heart because of His indwelling Spirit in me. I may not even know the “meaning” of the word, but Jesus is working in my life to teach me just what being humble means’and He has ways of teaching us that will be seared into our learning banks! Nebuchadnezzar’s story told in Daniel 4: 28-37 emphasizes the truth that “He is able to take those who walk proudly and push them into the dust.” He WILL teach us the ways of humility!

We come to this realization through circumstances unique to our individual lives’loneliness, death, pain, stress. Nebuchadnezzar learned the way of humility through his circumstances, being broken in the area of pride. God taught him the value of humility. Devastating circumstances cause me to recognize my complete dependence on Him’my inability to control my circumstances, and to choose to proclaim His rule, authority, ownership’and I am learning about humility!

God led the children of Israel in the wilderness forty years that He might humble them (Deuteronomy. 8:2, 16). The sad epitaph is that they never learned! God finally dealt harshly with them, refusing them entrance into the Promised Land. But oh! He tried again and again and again to teach them humility and gratitude. “If you will only humble yourselves and pray . . . (II Chronicles 7:14) then I will do this . . . ”

We read in the book of James (4:6) that “He gives more and more strength to the humble to stand against the evil pleasures of this world but sets Himself against the proud and haughty.” Why? Because it is the proud person who says, “I don’t need You, God. I can do this by myself!” The haughty person says, “Look at me! See what I can do!”

What we are to do is love each other with brotherly affection and take delight in honoring each other.[1]That’s evidence of humility. Do I have the Power to do that? Yes, because of Who lives in me. We are cautioned to not be selfish, to not live to make a good impression on other people. Instead, be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.[2] That’s evidence of humility. Can I do that? Yes! I can do it because of Who lives in me.

God is working in each of us, teaching us how to allow Him to meet life for us as He lives through us, and He can teach us how to be humble with just a snap of His fingers. But, we can choose to humble ourselves under His loving hand, and He will lift us to the top of the pedestal.[3]

I’ve never really wanted to stand on the top of a pedestal, have you? I would probably get dizzy and fall off and be humiliated! Well, maybe that’s what needs to happen for me to learn humility. It certainly would be a difficult lesson’but I bet I would learn it after an embarrassing tumble like that!

Thank You, Lord, that you know just what I need to let this “humble and gentle” Spirit” be evidenced to everyone I meet. They won’t see ME! They’ll be seeing Jesus in me! Lord, I want to learn to be humble. Thank You that you know just what has to transpire for me to learn how to let humility “be one of my finest characteristics!”

[1] Romans 12:10

[2]Philippians 2:3

[3] James 4:10