Grace to the Humble

Do you ever do dumb things? I do. I find the best perspective I can have when it comes to my “dumb moments” is to laugh at myself and to forgive myself. After years of practice, it’s finally beginning to sink in that no one takes me as seriously as I take myself.

Over 20 years ago, my husband told me, “Everyone makes mistakes, but when you make a mistake, you seem to think it’s the worst mistake ever made by anyone in the universe.” This was true. Every time I did anything I perceived as “stupid,” I would wish for the earth to open and swallow me.

Was my overreaction to my slip-ups mere insecurity? That certainly played a part, but the Lord gently showed me that pride was also at work here. Why else would I need others to see me as infallible? What kind of egocentrism made me think it was okay for others to make mistakes, but not I? And wasn’t it prideful to think that others thought so much about me? Did I really believe that no one had anything better to think about than the latest dumb thing I’d done or said? Honestly!

The opposite of pride is humility, but how do we develop humility?

First of all, humility is a choice.

In Matthew 18:4 Jesus said, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” We choose to humble ourselves and become childlike in our faith, which affects how we respond to everything else in our lives.

Humility comes through understanding who we were without Christ and who we have become because of His great sacrifice for us. “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:22-24). In Christ, I am no better and no worse than anyone else.

Recognize that it is God who makes us able. “Our competence comes from God (2 Cor. 3:5). On my own, I am imperfect, but in Christ I am “the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). I can only humbly acknowledge what He has done for me.

Finally, we learn humility through a lifetime spent making mistakes and letting Jesus pick us back up and give us another chance. He forgives everything, and in that knowledge, I am humbled.

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6b).