To Go Up, Go Low
“By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.” Proverbs 22:4 nkjv
I have been meditating on this verse for the past several days now. I couldn’t help but see just how counter-culture, counter-humanity, and counter-flesh this statement is. Jesus taught in the sermon on the mount “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:3) A prerequisite to inheriting the kingdom of heaven is humility. It got me thinking, why is God concerned with, and wants us to walk humbly? I suppose the opposite of humility is pride. Pride is the original sin. That is what got satan kicked out of heaven. The devil gloried in himself and exalted himself as he gazed at his own beauty. It was God who created him, it was God's handy work and design that satan (formally known as Lucifer) was who he was. He attempted to take glory from the Lord.
When we walk in pride, we are saying we have what we have, and are what we are, because of what we have done. That is contrary to what the Word of God tells us. “Every good and perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17a). Pride takes away from what God has freely given to us and we glory in it as if we gave it to ourselves. Humility says, “it is by the grace of God that I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10). Humility says, “For I know that within me (the flesh) dwells no good thing” (Romans 7:18). When we truly recognize our true condition, we will see that there is nothing to be prideful in. When we look in the mirror of God’s Word, we will see that there are many blemishes. The point of that is not to bum us out or depress us. The point is to see all those blemishes, acknowledge those imperfections, and understand that God loves me still.
When we walk in humility the Lord supplies us, provides us, and sustains life in us. God will exalt the humble, and gives them an inheritance. But for the prideful, their end is destruction, just like the devils. Let us be like Jesus, and walk in humility. Allow the Lord to promote you, not yourself.
Agape - Frank
