The Garment of Humility

There is an invisible shroud that follows me around and raises its ugly head once in a while. It gets in my way, changes my plans, disrupts my schedule; it even causes me to think, do, and say things that I know are not nice! Sometimes it prevents me from complimenting or affirming someone, sometimes it keeps me from asking for help or admitting that I don't know what to do in a situation. There are times when this shroud can be a positive thing, but usually its results are negative.

Have you figured out what my shroud is? I suspect that it follows you around as well. Its name is Pride.

We all know how destructive Pride can be in our lives.

• Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling. Prov. 16:18

I am not going to elaborate on it here - I'm afraid that, if I did, I would never get around to the point of this post. So what is my point:? To look at the antidote to the shroud of Pride - the garment of Humility.

• Humility - 1) Not proud or arrogant, 2) having a feeling of insignificance, 3) low in rank, importance, status (dictionary.com)

What about those definitions rubs you the wrong way?!! All of them, of course. "Sounds" so good, but oh so difficult to live out.

• All of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, and He will lift you up in due time. 1 Peter 5:5-6

Humility is an attitude that is lived out in actions. Attitudes and actions are a matter of choice. I can choose to be humble - or not. But as I think more and more about emulating Jesus, I think of Philippians 2:5 - In your lives, you must think and act like Jesus. (NCV) To think and act more like Jesus, I am going to have to make some choices and some changes.

Making a conscious decision to choose humility should be birthed out of the understanding that humility is one of God's characteristics - it's His nature to be humble. Jesus lived out his nature, and one of the most dramatic examples of His humility is found in John 13:3-5:

• Jesus knew that the Father had given Him authority over everything and that He had come from God and would return to God. So He go up from the table, took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, and poured water into a basin. Then He began to wash the disciples's feet, drying them with the towel he had around Him. (NLT)

God, the creator of the universe, the One who breathed everything into existence, came in the form of a man, and before He was arrested and executed, He became like a lowly servant and washed the dust from His friends feet! Think about that....that's a WOW!

And then the ultimate picture of humilty -

• He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. Philippians 2:8 (NLT)

How do we even begin? It begins in our minds - as a choice.

• You must have the same attitude that Christ had. Philippians 2:5 (NLT)

That is only achieved when we spend time with Him in His Word everyday - consistently. Humility is not part of our human nature, and it is not part of the Fruit of the Spirit. It's an attitude which results in action that we choose to take on. If we choose to live and act like Jesus - knowing that it is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit living in us, then we must choose to lay aside the shroud of Pride and put on the garment of Humility.