by John Piper

In 1908 the British writer G. K. Chesterton described the embryo of today's full-grown immature culture called post-modernism. One mark of its "vulgar relativism" (as Michael Novak calls it) is the hijacking of the word "arrogance" to refer to conviction and "humility" to refer to doubt. Chesterton saw it coming:

What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert - himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt - the Divine Reason. . . . The new skeptic is so humble that he doubts if he can even learn. . . . There is a real humility typical of our time; but it so happens that it's practically a more poisonous humility than the wildest prostrations of the ascetic. . . . The old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which might make him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his aims, which makes him stop working altogether. . . . We are on the road to producing a race of man too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication table.
(Orthodoxy [Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Co., 1957], pp. 31-32)

We have seen it most recently in the resentment over Christians expressing the conviction that Jewish people (like everyone else) need to believe in Jesus to be saved. The most common response to this conviction is that Christians are arrogant. Modern-day humility would never cry, "Fire!" since the smoke might be vapor from the clothes drier.

If humility is not compliance with the relativism of sophomoric skepticism, what is it?

This is important, since the Bible says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5), and "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 14:11).

God has told us at least five things about humility.

1. Humility begins with a sense of subordination to God in Christ.

"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master" (Matthew 10:24).
"Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God" (1 Peter 5:6).

2. Humility does not feel a right to better treatment than Jesus got.

"If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!" (Matthew 10:25). Therefore humility does not return evil for evil. It is not life based on its perceived rights.

"Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps. . . . While suffering, He uttered no threats, but handed [his cause] over to Him who judges righteously" (1 Peter 2:21-23).

3. Humility asserts truth not to bolster ego with control or with triumphs in debate, but as service to Christ and love to the adversary.

"Love rejoices in the truth" (1 Corinthians 13:6).
"What I [Jesus] tell you in the darkness, speak in the light. . . . Do not fear" (Matthew 10:27-28).
"We do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake" (2 Corinthians 4:5).

4. Humility knows it is dependent on grace for all knowing and believing.

"What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" (1 Corinthians 4:7).
"In humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls" (James 1:21).

5. Humility knows it is fallible, and so considers criticism and learns from it; but also knows that God has made provision for human conviction and that he calls us to persuade others.

"We see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).
"A wise man is he who listens to counsel" (Proverbs 12:15).
"Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men" (2 Corinthians 5:11).

The Pope said that the intervention of God overcomes the sterility of our life and makes it fruitful. Then he put us on guard against the attitude of pride that makes us sterile.

Often in the Bible we find women who are sterile, to whom the Lord gives the gift of life. That was the starting point of Pope Francis' homily on the day's readings, particularly the Gospel, which tells the story of Elizabeth, who was sterile but who had a son - John. "From the impossibility of giving life," the Pope said, "comes life." And this, he continued, happened not only for sterile women but to those "who had no hope of life," such as Naomi who eventually had a grandson:

"The Lord intervened in the life of this woman to tell us: 'I am capable of giving life.' In the Prophets too there is the image of the desert, the desert land that cannot grow a tree, a fruit, to bring forth anything. 'But the desert will be like a forest,' the Prophets say, "it will be huge, it will flower." But can the desert flower? Yes. Can the sterile woman give life? Yes. The promise of the Lord: 'I can!' From dryness, from your dryness I can make life, salvation grow. From aridity I can make fruit grow!"

And that salvation, Pope Francis said, is this: "The intervention of God who makes us fruitful, who gives us the capacity to give life." He warned that we cannot do it by ourselves. And yet, the Pope said, many people have tried to imagine that we are capable of saving ourselves:

"Even Christians, eh? We think of the Pelagians for example. All is grace. And it is the intervention of God that brings us salvation. It is the intervention of God that helps us along the path of sanctity. Only He can do it. But what are we to do on our part?

First, recognize our dryness, our incapacity to give life. Recognize this.

Second, ask: 'Lord, I want to be fruitful.' I desire that my life should give life, that my faith should be fruitful and go forward and be able to give it to others.

Lord, I am sterile, I can't do it. You can. I am a desert: I can't do it. You can."

And this, he added, could be our prayer during these days before Christmas. "We think about how the proud, those who think they can do it all by themselves, are struck." The Pope turned his thoughts to Michal, the daughter of Saul. She was a woman, he said, "who was not sterile, but was proud, and was not able to understand what it was to praise God," and in fact laughed at the praise that David gave to the Lord. And she was punished with sterility:

"Humility is necessary for fruitfulness.

How many people imagine they are just, like Michal, but who are really [sorry souls (poveracce)]. The humility to say to the Lord: 'Lord, I am sterile, I am a desert' and to repeat in these days this beautiful antiphon that the Church makes us pray:

O Son of David,
O Adonai,
O Wisdom – today! –
O Root of Jesse,
O Emmanuel,

Come and give us life,
Come and save us,
Because only You can,
By myself I cannot!'

And with this humility,
this humility of the desert,
this humility of a sterile soul,
receive grace,
the grace to flourish,
to give fruit,
and to give life."

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!
- Philippians 2:8

Many of us are obsessed with fame - either with being famous ourselves or with following every detail of famous people's lives. International book or film tours. Late-night show appearances. Millions of followers on Twitter.

In a recent study in the US, researchers ranked the names of famous individuals using a specially developed algorithm that scoured the Internet. Jesus topped the list as the most famous person in history.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross! Philippians 2:8

Yet Jesus was never concerned about obtaining celebrity status. When He was here on earth, He never sought fame (Matt. 9:30; John 6:15) - although fame found Him all the same as news about Him quickly traveled throughout the region of Galilee (Mark 1:28; Luke 4:37).

Wherever Jesus went, crowds soon gathered. The miracles He performed drew people to Him. But when they tried to make Him a king by force, He slipped away by Himself (John 6:15). United in purpose with His Father, He repeatedly deferred to the Father's will and timing (4:34; 8:29; 12:23). "He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:8).

Fame was never Jesus's goal. His purpose was simple. As the Son of God, He humbly, obediently, and voluntarily offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.

You are to be celebrated, Lord, above all others. You have been highly exalted and given a name that is above every name. One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that You are Lord.

Jesus came not to be famous, but to humbly offer Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.

INSIGHT:

In today's reading, we see Paul's eloquent treatment of how God became human. Jesus Christ had the attributes of God yet took on human flesh to become a servant. This self-sacrificial mission found its ultimate expression in Jesus's death on the cross to provide salvation for all who believe in Him as Savior and Lord. C. S. Lewis wrote, "The Son of God became man so that men might become sons of God."

by John MacArthur

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"
(Matt. 5:3).

Poverty of spirit is a prerequisite to salvation and to victorious Christian living.

In Luke 18:9-14 Jesus tells of two men who went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee boasted to God about his self- righteous efforts; the tax collector humbly acknowledged his sin. The Pharisee was proud and went away still in sin; the tax collector was poor in spirit and went away forgiven.

The Greek word translated "poor" in Matthew 5:3 was used in classical Greek to refer to those reduced to cowering in dark corners of the city streets begging for handouts. Because they had no personal resources, they were totally dependent on the gifts of others. That same word is used in Luke 16:20 to describe Lazarus the poor man.

The spiritual parallel pictures those who know they are spiritually helpless and utterly destitute of any human resources that will commend them to God. They rely totally on God's grace for salvation, and they also rely on His grace for daily living. Jesus called them happy people because they are true believers and the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

The word translated "theirs" in Matthew 5:3 is emphatic in the Greek text: the kingdom of heaven definitely belongs to those who are poor in spirit. They have its grace now and will fully enjoy its glory later (1 John 3:1-2). That's cause for great joy!

Isaiah 57:15 says, "Thus says the high and exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy, 'I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.'" David added, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise" (Ps. 51:17).

Like the humble tax collector, recognize your weaknesses and rely totally on God's resources. Then He will hear your prayers and minister to your needs. That's where happiness begins!

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank God that when you come to Him in humility and contrition, He hears you and responds. Prayerfully guard your heart from the subtle influences of pride. For Further Study

Read the following verses, noting God's perspective on pride: Proverbs 6:16-17; 8:13; 11:2; 16:5; 18-19.

by Jennifer Heeren

Seeking humility is a funny endeavor. The minute we think we're gaining humility, we need to start the process again. It can be tempting to brag about acts of humility. It can also be tempting to step aside and help someone else forward just because we're being noticed as we help. Humility isn't pure unless our motivation is correct and that motive should be seeking to help others for no other reason except to help.

As C.S. Lewis put it, "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less." Any time that we put "ourselves" and "our thoughts" in between us and any situation, we're not portraying true humility. By outer appearances, we are helping. So, it's not all bad. After all, it's very difficult to get everything right at once. We are all flawed human beings. On the inside, we may be thinking what else is good about this task besides just helping. Possibly, we want someone to take notice of our "selfless" deed. However, we are much more at peace when we just help and forget about how it affects us.

Since God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6), we should want to seek to be as truly humble as we can because we need all of the grace that we can get. I know I do. In addition, it's very tiring to always seek what we want. Therefore, the goal becomes to seek to help other people and forget about us, at least for a little while. When we do that, we find that God takes care of our needs and worries or at least makes them seem pale in comparison. Worrying over our own problems does nothing to really help anyway. Placing ourselves in God's capable hands and trusting that He won't let go no matter what is happening is much more restful and freeing.

When we are living with a humble attitude we're usually living with more of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) showing in our lives—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When we find ourselves thinking the opposite of these traits, we are living selfish and self-centered. Denying ourselves and our own desires and letting one or more of the fruit of the Spirit traits come forth really is the way to live peacefully. I don't think that God minds if we voice our opinions but if we stubbornly stick to those opinions, we're like a little kid that places his hands over his ears when he doesn't want to hear what a parent is saying.

Jesus said to deny ourselves and follow Him but sometimes we can deny ourselves for the wrong reasons. Three ways that we might have a tendency to do that are:

1. Denying ourselves in order to make a point.

If we find ourselves saying something like, "Whatever. We'll do it your way," we're not denying ourselves at all. In fact, we're strongly reiterating that our way is probably better. We are denying ourselves to make a final effort of making our point.

2. Denying ourselves to feel better about ourselves.

If we find ourselves saying something like, "I'll do this because you want to do it," and we're sincere so there's no problem. But if we really were sincere, we probably wouldn't phrase it like that. We would simply say, "Okay, let's do it." The previous way is more of a grumble and complain. We probably said it just to feel like the better person. We are denying ourselves to feel like we are a nice person. This is people-pleasing, it's not humility.

3. Denying ourselves to have an excuse to be lazy.

And, if we find ourselves agreeing with an opinion that we don't share or not voicing our own opinion at all, we're using a keeping-the-peace mentality as an excuse to be lazy. We're denying ourselves because we are afraid. Again, we are in a people-pleasing mindset.

The above examples are nothing more than false humility or letting someone else have their way so that we look or feel better. We're putting on a mask and when we are wearing any kind of mask, we're not being humble. We are hiding.

Denying ourselves should never mean hiding ourselves or making it easier on ourselves. Our opinions should be shared honestly and fully. We can speak up for God and His principles. However, we should never do those things in a brash or angry way. God's way is usually to speak the truth clearly but softly so that people will have a chance to hear what we're saying. Anger will turn people off before we have a chance to say two words.

True humility is being who God created us to be and not hiding our opinions. It's not cramming our opinions down someone's throat. We always have to remember that although we can gain wisdom from reading the bible and praying, we will never have all of the answers or know everything. That is God's job description and his thoughts are much higher than our thoughts.

About The Author:

Jennifer Heeren loves to write things that bring people hope and encouragement. Her cup is always at least half-full, even when circumstances aren't ideal. She regularly contributes to Crosswalk.com.

From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled ...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated ...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated ...
From the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed ...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being suspected ...

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

by Ralph Bouma

Moses' meekness must be analyzed in three different places.

His meekness was God-centered.

Moses would not defend his own name, but he would stand to defend the name of the Lord at all costs. Moses was put down for his personality, character, and leadership; yet he never defended himself.

Moses was not, however, a meek man when defending the Lord.

He did not yield to the men who challenged the Lord. This is the distinction between true spiritual meekness and yielding to every challenge. Many people yield to every challenge against God and His Word, as well as against themselves! This is not meekness which Jesus calls blessed.

Moses' grace of meekness ebbed and flowed. The graces we receive from the Lord go through a spiritual warfare. The Spirit is striving against the flesh, and the flesh against the Spirit. These graces ebb and flow because of this continual warfare throughout our life.

Moses, who was the meekest of all men, was not allowed to enter the promised land of Canaan. Can you guess why? It was because he lacked meekness. Moses did not sanctify the Lord. In a weak moment, the grace of Moses' meekness was withdrawn.

NUM 20:7-12 says,

"And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

[Watch where Moses' meekness failed.]

And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them,

Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?

[Moses did not sanctify the Lord. Moses claimed that he was fetching the water. The Lord told Moses,

'...and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water.'

See what Moses did.]

And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

[Moses didn't sanctify the Lord by saying, 'And the Lord will bring you water out of the rock.']

And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron,

Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them."

When the grace of meekness was withdrawn from Moses, the meekest of all men fell and was not meek. In his weak moment he railed upon the congregation of the Lord.

Moses said,

"Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?"

The blessedness of meekness is a special grace which is given from the Lord. We find that it ebbs and flows.

NUM 12:3 says,

"(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)" The Scriptures show us many examples of the blessedness of the meekness of Moses.

Moses prayed for Aaron, his brother, and Miriam, his sister, when they came against him in NUM 12:1-13. The fact that Moses didn't make the slightest attempt to defend himself symbolizes the meekness within him. He didn't try to defend his honor. Moses' own brother and sister spoke against him. The Lord had sent Aaron with Moses through the ten plagues of Egypt and anointed him the priest of the Lord. This is the brother who spoke against Moses.

What was Aaron's charge? We find it in Verse 1. Aaron charged Moses very grievously.

"And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman."

Aaron spoke against Moses for his wife.

Verse 2 says,

"And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it."

The charge brought against Moses would be enough to ignite every sense of dignity in a normal person to defend himself. Aaron spoke against the closest part of Moses' intimacy--his own wife. Aaron also charged Moses with exalting himself, saying that the Lord had spoken by him alone. These are very grievous charges.

We can see the demonstration of his meekness in Verse 10. "And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous." The priest held the authority to determine if a person had leprosy.

When the leprosy broke out in Miriam, Aaron asked Moses to pray for her. Moses did not condemn them for judging him earlier. He did not defend his own honor.

NUM 12:13 says,

"And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee."

This is a demonstration of meekness. Moses did not point his finger at Aaron or Miriam. Moses immediately prayed that the Lord would be merciful.

For his own name, his own honor, his own glory, Moses was meek above all men which were upon the face of the earth. Moses never tried to defend himself. Spiritual meekness is the ability to let your own honor come behind the honor of other people or the Lord's.

EXO 14:11 says,

"And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?"

The people came against Moses. They didn't accuse the Lord; they accused Moses of bringing them out because there were no graves in Egypt.

Verse 12 says,

"Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness."

When the entire congregation of Israel was attacking Moses, he didn't defend his own name. Moses directed their attention away from themselves and to the salvation of the Lord.

"And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever," Verse 13.

Moses directed their eyes to the blessed salvation that the Lord would send. Moses told them that the salvation of their deliverance that day would go down in history and glorify the Lord for all eternity.

This is a demonstration of meekness. The people of Israel charged Moses with bringing them into the wilderness to die. They brought grievous accusations against Moses. Moses' first and only response was to direct their eyes unto the salvation of the Lord. Moses used their accusation to glorify God.

The people murmured against Moses in EXO 15:23-24.

"And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?"

The congregation of Israel brought their charges against Moses personally. Moses did not defend himself. Immediately, Moses let his name be trampled, but he stood to glorify God.

Moses cried unto the Lord for them. Verse 25 says,

"And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them."

The Lord gave Moses the grace of meekness to take the accusations against him and turn to the Lord in their behalf.

The tree of life was cast into the waters.

This is a type of Christ. Christ stood for true meekness. He took the penalty of all their sins.
The tree was placed in the waters, and the waters became sweet.
These are symbols of true spiritual meekness.
Amen.