“Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. John 5:19

“And Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people” Matthew 4:23  

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them  Psalm 8:3-4

How Can I Praise You

How do I properly praise you, my Lord?
Should I speak of your glory and power?
Brag that you who created the mighty ocean
Also, created the flower?
I could marvel at your timelessness
As the author of eternity
But none of that speaks to my gratitude
For all that you’ve done for me.

How can I explain to everyone else,
Just how broken I was at the start?
Or demonstrate to anyone
The miracles you’ve done in my heart?
When I look back, to understand my path
I see a loveless life in moratorium.
But your love, Lord, has given me courage
To explore things that I used to run from

Day by day, and grace by grace
You made it safe to open my mind.
But for the grace of your safety, Lord
I would have run from the fear and pride.
I am so grateful for your patience
As I continue to learn how to give you my fears.
For fear is a most stubborn opponent
Who I’ve already been fighting for years.

Lord, we’ve also wrestled for years with my pride.
And that was just to learn what it is.
How many times have you heard me say,,
“Oh, Lord, surely you don’t mean this?”
You are insistent that I give up all pride
But with grace for my cries and grumbles.
Not once have I felt shamed or forsaken
As you’ve taught me the meaning of humble.

It will always be my honor to bow, to you.
To your strength, power, and sovereignty.
I will always have awe for your creations, Lord;
For each one reflects your majesty.
I feel wonder in this world you’ve created.
Gratitude for your Son, who set me free.
But, Lord, nothing compares with my honor and awe 
For the miracles, you’ve performed in me.
Linda Troxell ©02/15/202

We who live in the western world were brought up to value independence. We think in terms of what’s best for “me”. For us, competing seems to be a natural instinct. We consider it normal to strive to be good, better, first, and best in all areas of our lives. That comes with bragging rights, and we love to brag.    

Not so in all cultures. In collective cultures, the group is more important than the individual. In these societies pursuits that honor or favor the individual are discouraged and considered selfish. Rather, group endeavors in which credit for accomplishment is shared is the norm. Collective cultures value modesty and humility and the members strive to be caring and inclusive. It seems the two cultures couldn’t be more different. 

But maybe they aren’t as different as they seem. Yes, those in collective cultures value modesty and sharing, but they also like competing. There are studies that show all cultures throughout history have had games and sports in which there is a winner and a loser. Look at the Olympic Games, many countries with collective cultures compete in the Games. 

And, while individual cultures that value competition are concerned with the individual more than the group, they also come together collectively when needed. For example, after the attack on 9/11, no one in the United States was concerned with rivalries or competition. The only concern was saving lives and rescuing survivors.  

Still, it’s true that those of us in the west were raised to consider the good of the individual over that of the group. We watched as John Wayne, Rambo, or the Marvel Super Heroes, (depending on our ages) took care of any situation single-handedly. And that’s who we wanted to be.   

So, unless you are a Christian, humility is not a word you will hear often in the United States. However, we Christians grew up, literally or figuratively, watching Jesus depend on His Father in heaven to take care of whatever situation He encountered; knowing we were expected to strive for the same posture. Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. John 5:19

Our God is the God of the universe who brought the whole world into existence with only His thoughts and His words. He is the God who humbled Himself to come to earth as a human. He is the God who traveled the area around Galilee with lowly fishermen as His apostles, seeking out others to serve and heal. “And Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people” Matthew 4:23  

This is who we, as Christians are called to pattern our lives after. Our God who was humble enough to leave heaven to become a man, humble enough to live among liars, thieves, and tax collectors, and finally, humble enough to allow himself to be humiliated, beaten, and spit on as He made His way to the spot where He would die for us.  

Jesus did immeasurable more than any superhero and still, He was able to walk humbly in His life. He is the superhero on who we as Christians are to model our lives. Yet, pride is still a constant opponent of most Christians. Humility does not seem to be the natural state of our hearts and minds. 

We are constantly battling with our pride to claim and reclaim our humility. We find ourselves comparing ourselves to others, before realizing that comes from our pride. We catch ourselves envying someone and suddenly understand envy comes from pride. We could all learn something about humility from the Hip Hop artist Lecrae who says this about being humble: “Success is not about what I’ve done compared to what others have done, but about what I’ve done compared to what God has called me to do”. Lecrae.

 There is no question we are called to walk in humility, the word humility or humble, along with its synonyms such as meek, and meekness appears in the Bible 114 times; 92 times in the Old Testament and 22 in the New Testament. But even though I hear or read something about humility every day, when I started meditating on it for this writing, I realized that I didn’t have a precise understanding of its meaning.  

Of course, I knew the concept but I wanted the specifics. If I’m going to constantly battle for humility, I probably should make sure I know what it is I’m trying to achieve. So, I checked out its definition in a few dictionaries. Why more than one? It’s because the first few gave me definitions such as Humility is the quality of being humble. Or, The quality or state of being humble. Not very helpful, right?

I clearly remember that when I was in school, it was a hard and fast rule that when defining a word, the word being defined could not be included in the definition. What happened to that rule? I guess Mr. Webster didn’t have Mrs. Dial for 7th grade English. 

Eventually, I found some definitions I could use, not entirely informative, but better. 

 * Humility: Freedom from pride or arrogance.-Merriam-Webster Dictionary

* Humility: The quality of not thinking that you are better than other people; the quality of being humble.  –Oxford Dictionary

Those definitions are certainly better. But by far the most informative is from Webster’s Dictionary of 1828. This is a dictionary I often consult when I want to understand a word from a more Christian worldview. Although  his dictionary is a secular reference book, Mr. Webster was a devout Christian, and it was published at a time when our country as a whole had a more Christian foundation and worldview. 

It defines Humility like this:
Lowly; modest; meek; submissive; opposed to proud, haughty, arrogant, or assuming. In an evangelical sense, having a low opinion of one’s self, and a deep sense of unworthiness in the sight of God. -Webster’s Dictionary 1828

This is definitely a fuller definition of humility. However, I am uneasy with thinking that God actually wants us to have a deep sense of unworthiness in His sight. For me, that is not who I understand God to be. I know I don’t have any credentials behind my opinions. But I have the ability to research. And I did. 

I went on a search to find the word humble or humility in the original Hebrew. You can do this too, all of the tools are online. But I realize that not everyone has the time I have for such things. That’s partly why I do it. So let’s look at how that word humble came to English from the original Hebrew.  

According to Strong’s Concordance, the Greek word that transliterates to humble in English is Tapeinoo. Its meaning in Greek is to depress; figuratively to humiliate (in conditions of heart);- abase bring low humble (self). So, it is only slightly different from the definition we read in Webster’s 1828 dictionary. 

But what about the original Hebrew word that was transliterated into Greek as tapeinoo? That word is Anavah, and it means: To occupy your God-given space in the world. Not to overestimate yourself or your abilities but not to underestimate yourself either. This is a much gentler definition of being humble. And it fits better with God as I know Him.

Another definition I came across in my research was what Biblical humility means and it was this:  Believing what God says about you over anyone else’s opinion, including your own. It requires embracing who you are in Christ over who you are in the flesh. And while I really like this definition, I couldn’t find its origin so I don’t know how legitimate it is in terms of being biblical.

Like me, you may have grown up thinking of humility more like Webster’s 1828 dictionary definition, having a low opinion of one’s self, and a deep sense of unworthiness in the sight of God. But now, as a grown woman with the ability to think for myself, I can no longer believe God wants us to feel unworthy in His sight. 

Didn’t Jesus die for us to be justified before God? It is my belief that God wants us to feel safe in His sight so that we can bring our sins to Him and confess without fear. Because then we will feel safe and protected to repent of those sins as well. 

When I think of humbling myself before God I think of the feeling I get when I look up at a clear night sky and realize He put those stars in the sky. I think of how I feel standing on the shore of the ocean and knowing that He is yet more powerful than the waves. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them  Psalm 8:3-4

I think that humbling ourselves before God is to acknowledge His power and bow to it not in shame but in love and gratitude. I humble myself before God each time I begin to think I can live life on my own, and then remember He is God and I am not. I think we serve a God who is sufficiently secure in His position  that He doesn’t need us to feel unworthy in order for Him to know He is sovereign.  Be still and know that I am God.  Psalm 46:10

 

Let’s Pray

Abba, our Father God, we come before you in humility knowing that you are our all-powerful sovereign  God. We come to you in praise for all the mighty works you did to create our world. We come before you to humbly thank you for all of the work you’ve done in our hearts. There is no question in our minds that we are the subjects and you are our king. But Lord, I can’t believe that you want us to feel unworthy in your presence. Because you tell us in 1 John that if we confess our sins to you, you will forgive them. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9  Lord, if you cleanse us from unrighteousness then how could we be unworthy? I don’t know how we can feel safe to confess to you if we feel unworthy in your sight. I don’t know if that was ever the case, Lord, but if it was, I am sure since Jesus died to redeem our sins and justify us in your sight you no longer see us as unworthy. The Bible says that you adopted us as your children. Can a child of yours, Lord, be unworthy? I am so thankful to know that you are a righteous and faithful God in whose presence I can feel safe enough to confess all of my sins knowing you will forgive me when I repent. I thank you, Lord, for everything you created for us in this world. I thank you, God, for calling me to be one of your children. I thank you, God, that you chased me down and wouldn’t take no for an answer. And I thank you God for sending Jesus to save us and the Holy Spirit to live in us. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus Amen!

 

Points for Pondering or for Prayer
Or
Perhaps for Putting Pen to Paper

 

1. What are some of the ways in which you struggle with pride?  
 Write a paragraph about how you struggle.

2. Do you have a good definition of humble or humility that you understand well? 
 Write the definition in your own words. 

3. Does it include feeling unworthy in the sight of God? 
 If it does write your explanation of our unworthiness after Jesus died to redeem us from sin and justify   us in the eyes of God.

4. When you think of humbling yourself before God what does it mean or what does it look like? Write a   paragraph about that.