Username of the writer: ArticleProf
As Christians, we have a calling to emulate Jesus in exemplary humility. Christ demonstrated an ultimate example of humility when He submitted to come on earth and die on behalf of us as sinners. Jesus was in the form of God, but yet He never equated himself to God. Although Jesus Christ was holy and blameless, He was humble enough to suffer and die for the sake of saving humankind. We can first explain this as an expression of unconditional love and secondly as an outstanding level of humility.
The Bible teaches us that no man should boast of his riches, wisdom, or might, no matter how much he has ( Jeremiah 9:23). Many scriptures in the Bible talk about humility, and therefore it is an essential virtue that we should all embrace as believers of Jesus Christ. We should humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and only Him should exalt us (1 Peter 5:6). It means that our job is to humble ourselves, and it is God’s job to elevate us. If we focus on doing God’s job, He might as well do ours, and hence He humbles us.
Humility is all about selflessness, thinking about ourselves less and more of others according to Phillipians 2:3. Humility is something that we should show in a world dominated by entitled and overconfident individuals who are busy focusing on themselves instead of serving others for the greater good. This noble virtue has very beneficial impacts on us, as stated in the Bible, and also psychology confirms the same thing. Humility helps in eliminating unnecessary competition and makes us co-exist with others in a friendly way as brethren. Humble people usually have a good sense of self-mastery, and they understand their weaknesses and strengths very well. They never seek recognition from other people, and hence they have a better chance of growing and becoming better.
The Bible promises many things to those people who are humble. According to Proverbs 3:34, favor is promised to humble people, while in Proverbs 11:2, wisdom is promised. Also, Proverbs 22:4 says that “The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord is riches, honor, and life.” In addition, when we humble ourselves, God will exalt us at the right time. All these promises are accurate as long as we meet the condition. By humility, we unlock blessings and doors to God’s favor, wisdom, riches, honor, progress, and advancement in life.
If such incredible things are promised when we are only required to show humility, each believer should possess the blessings. The problem comes when we have little faith in the promises of God, and we choose to believe in only what we see. This deception makes us think that the level we are is maybe because of our education, effort, hard work, connections, etc. This lack of faith makes us live a prayerless life, and we do not thank God for our blessings or request him for our needs. Giving thanks to God and making our requests known to him is a form of humility that we depend on Him and not our abilities or understanding. If we do not pray, then pride comes in, destroying us (Proverbs 16:18). Below is a short story of how pride ruined a colleague of mine.
A few years ago, I had a very gifted colleague named Brian who was doing his job within deadlines and with a high level of accuracy. Together we were in the same technical department as IT technicians. Brian was a colleague and a perfect friend, and we became friends way before when we were still students. He was gifted in computers and numbers, and as a student, he consistently topped the class. Brian could quickly grasp complex computer algorithms while everybody else was struggling to understand. This knowledge aided him in doing computer projects perfectly well and impress our boss with his excellent work. I am not implying that I was below average at my work, but I could take much time to finish an assignment that he could do within just a few hours. Indeed Brian was blessed and better than anyone else in the department on matters job. His excellent performance made our boss happy. In about two years since he joined the company, he was finally promoted to become the head of the technical department following the exit of the preceding HOD.
In his new role, Brian was still doing good and relating well with his juniors for the first few months. A department being led by a worker with an outstanding performance record could only do better as expected. Everybody commended him for the increased performance, and we, as his juniors, were also satisfied working under him. So this one day, Brian summons everybody in the department for a meeting, and in attendance is the company’s boss. When it was his time to talk about the department’s success, he was all about himself and how he transformed the department without giving credit to any of us under him. We felt offended, and we raised the issue in our department Whatsapp group later that evening. Unfortunately, Brian did not take it kindly, and he could even reply with impolite and insensitive messages. This day changed most department staff members’ attitudes towards Brian, and his attitude changed towards them.
The change of attitude became a problem, and there were occasional fights in the department. Brian became more arrogant, and even he facilitated the firing of two of my colleagues. The performance started going down, and unlucky for Brain, he was demoted to his previous role. This brought him back to calmness, and he approached me one day about the same issue. I was frank with him told him about his change of attitude and how it dimmed his star. We prayed about it, and he was determined to change. Today he is very humble but still a very brilliant mind at the workplace, hoping that his promotion will knock for the second time soon.
The case of Brian shows how pride can destroy us, and we should act with great caution when we rise because that is the time we are likely to show arrogance and pride to others. The best way to fight pride is to pray since, by petition, we show how much we depend on God but not our abilities, and by thanksgiving, it shows that everything we have is God-given, and hence no need for pride. Humility helps us to grow since we can readily admit our mistakes. Consequently, we become excellent leaders, earn more respect from others, and above all, we receive more grace and blessings from God (James 4:6).
Originally posted 2021-05-30 07:38:36.
