When God chooses someone to implement your ideas, will you respond with such humility?1 This is a tough situation that we all have faced at some point. Letting another person take credit for our work. What makes this hard is the pride we all have within us. Let us take a look on how David, the King of Israel, showed his humility despite his status and all his power and riches.
Scripture
1 Chronicles 17 & James 4
Overview
1 Chronicles 17 – is divided into two highlights “The Lord’s Covenant with David” and “David’s Prayer“3. God’s promise to David is included among the seven covenants God made with His people. God promised David that salvation would come from the line of David. And it came to fruition when the Messiah, Jesus, was born as a descendant of David1.
James 4 – has two sections, “Warning Against Worldliness” and “Boasting about Tomorrow“3. The books of James was written by the eldest half-brother of Jesus1,3. Furthermore, the book relied heavily on Jesus’ teachings. And among any other books in the New Testament, this book has a lot of similarities to the (Sermon on the Mount)1. James 4 can be compared to the following verses in Matthew 5:3-5, 6:24, 7:1-21.
Observation
1 Chronicles 17:16 "And David the king came and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?"
James 4:6 "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."
Application
Proud
Pride, for me, is one of the many factors that strengthen the truth behind scriptures. Take for example, Romans 3 “10As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (v.10-12)2.
Humble
Dealing against pride is a struggle, but is it impossible? I would answer that with Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing shall be impossible“2. In order to combat pride, or any evil desires, one should be humble. Humbleness is the opposite virtue of pride. Humility literal means “lowly mindedness” or “he who bends himself“. Being humble is not considered as a virtue in the ancient times and not so much as well even to this day3.
Genuine Humility
However, we should also be vigilant on our actions and thoughts of humility. The struggle with pride is still there even when we think that we are “being humble“. C.S. Lewis described the wrestle with pride in his book, “Catch him (man) at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, ‘By jove! I’m being humble’, and almost immediately pride – pride at his own humility – will appear. If he (man) awakes to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of this attempt – and so on…“4.
We can only attain the virtue of humility if we surrender ourselves to God through Christ. There are lots of instances where humility is shown by God’s people. Take for an instance, King David. He sees himself as a servant of God. Furthermore, he did not get jealous with his offspring, King Solomon, that will build a house for God. Even though he came up with that idea.
When we tussle in our attitude of pride, remember what Paul said to the Philippians: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (2:3)3. It is when we become selfless that we combat selfishness.
Ultimate Act of Humility
Look up to the example of Jesus Christ when he lived on earth. He is God yet He still obeyed the will of God for Him to be on earth. He obeyed until the point of death on the cross for my transgressions and yours. Therefore, my sisters, observe on your thoughts and actions. Reflect if we are being humble or proud.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we praise Your Holy name. We ask for your Holy Spirit to be with us always. To show how to think and act with humility. May the life of Jesus Christ be our guide on how to please You. May we think of ourselves as Your servant, for we want to serve You. Make us useful for the furtherance of Your kingdom. Help us to be selfless, through the help of the Holy Spirit.
All these we ask through Jesus Christ our role model for humility. Amen.
REFERENCE
12012. Chronological Life Application Study Bible: New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
21989. King James Bible. Thomas Nelson, Inc.
32010. The MacArthur Study Bible: English Standard Version. Crossway Publishing.
41996.The Screwtape Letters. C.S.Lewis. Harper Collins Publishing
