To Be Humble

I wrote a post some time ago titled "What does it mean to be humble". I provided a reference to some writings of Spurgeon which gives an example of being humble.

In my further study of Galations the concept of being boastful and being humble has appeared. I don't think my last post really answered the question as thoroughly. So I wanted to amend that with Bible references on humility, or humbleness. By just doing a keyword search for the work humble in Bible Gateway here's what I found.

To be humble means to accept a reliance upon someone greater than yourself.

• Deuteronomy 8:3. "He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."
• 1 Corinthians 1:30. "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God -- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption."
  

To be humble means to accept defeat or to accept a dire predicament, and to be obedient.

• Psalm 107:39. "Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow".
• Proverbs 6:3. "Then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor!
• Philippians 2:8. "And being found in appearance as a man, he (Jesus) humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!"

To be humble is to accept the Lord as he is and to trust in the Lord.

• 2 Chronicles 12:6. "The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, 'The LORD is just.'"
• Zephaniah 3:12. "But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the LORD."

It is better to be humble then to be forced into being humbled.

• Isaiah 2:17. "The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day"
• Isaiah 5:15. So man will be brought low and mankind humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled.

But even though we as believers have bouts of pride and arrogance and the Lord humbles us, we have a hope if we accept our humble circumstance, or our humbling lesson. We can look up to the Lord in humbleness, and he will lift us up.

• Psalm 18:27. "You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty"
• Psalm 25:9. "He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way."
• Psalm 147:6. "The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground."
• Psalm 149:4. "For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation."
• Proverbs 3:34. "He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble."
• Matthew 18:4. "Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
• Matthew 23:12. "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
• Luke 1:48. "For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed."
• Luke 1:52. "He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble."
• James 4:10. "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."
• 1 Peter 5:6. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."

Let me go a step further to speak to you, the reader. Last week I watched a movie, the remake of "Flight of the Phoenix". There is a scene when there was a struggle of power regarding who should be "in charge", the guy who designs airplanes (Elliot) or the pilot (Frank). After a bitter disagreement and a punch in the face Elliot goes away, pouting. Others try to console Elliot to get him to help build the Phoenix. We all saw that Elliot was wrong with his pride and boasting but they couldn't finish the plane without him. So it came down to simply humbling themselves and saying, "Please, Elliot. Can we finish the plane? Please."

There is no exact correlations between all the characters and our situation with the Lord. In the movie, they persuaded Elliot to help again, but it was on his terms which is not what the Lord wants in us. Yet, we can all be like Elliot: bitter, prideful, boastful, and immature. So what can I say to all of us who have become like Elliot in terms of our Christian lives, our relationship with the Church and our relationship with God. Nothing except, "Please, Christian, will you humble yourself? Please."