THE WAY UP IS DOWN – Get off your high horse
“…for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted”. Luke 18:14b
Humility is vital if we are to achieve or sustain greatness in life. Our best model for humility is Jesus Christ himself because his whole life from the womb to the tomb reflected humility. Jesus Christ in all his glory and majesty decided to humble himself and dwell among sinful men. It is for this reason that he was highly exalted to be seated at the right hand of the father forever.
This shows that humility is never a loss or a mistake but is always an investment. The depth of your humility will often determine the height of your exaltation. The effect of humility is like the effect of a catapult, the more it is pulled back, the further the stone will go.
To walk in humility you will need to see everyone more important and better than yourself and consider others more highly than yourself. Humility must never be confused with stupidity.
Being humble does not mean that you become everyone’s doormat and watch others walk all over you like a spineless worm. Humility is not embracing poverty and may God have mercy on your soul if you use humility as an excuse for embracing poverty. Humility is a state of the heart that grows out of love for God and for your neighbor. The first to fall from God’s kingdom took his focus away from God and directed it towards himself. Satan, formerly known as Lucifer was God’s first worship leader in heaven. He is where he is now heading a pack of demons because he was a stranger to humility. He who is a stranger to humility shares the same fate with Satan, a great fall. It is in the height of victory and success that many lose their humility. When all is said and done remember to stay humble. Pride is so subtle that it can hide a type of humility called false humility. Many a time your pride gets in the way of your progress, when you become so big that you stop accepting correction and listening to advice.
No matter how smart your idea, there is always an area blind to your eyes that only others can see. Real success comes and is sustained with the counsel of the wise and only humble people reach out for counsel. Humility is more a state of the heart than it is an action. Actions of humility will be inspired by the condition of the heart. How far can one go in humility? As far as dying for others. Jesus Christ humbled himself to the point of death. Humility is sacrifice, laying down your ego to the glory of God and to the benefit of others. Our humility will always be put to the test, until proven real because for a while we can pretend to be who we are not but our true self will always show in due course. In the process of his suffering on earth, Jesus could have pulled off just a little surprise to show the Roman soldiers what he was made of but he did not. How many times do people challenge our authority and we do not hesitate for a second to show them who is boss? Christ gave us the perfect example that we must all strive to follow. MOVE