St Augustine stated that “Humility is the foundation of all virtues”. If Agape (the love of God) is the building block on which we are built, then surely humility is its foundation, because without humility, there is no love (Agape) and without love, humility does not exit. If a house does not have a solid foundation, it will not last. Likewise, a person too is easily destroyed without humility.

A person can achieve humility only when they lose themselves. If you have too much of pride within you, becoming humble will be a painful journey to begin with, but if you preserve and do not lose heart, the grace of God will rest upon you and take you on the journey to eternity. The perfect example of humility is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2: 1-11 (NRSV)

Imitating Christ’s Humility

2 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was[a] in Christ Jesus,

6 who, though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8     he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death—
    even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
    and gave him the name
    that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
    every knee should bend,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
    that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Humility is to be lowly in mind and spirit. To become humble, one must let go of all pride, arrogance and ego and become submissive and obedient to the will of God. This virtue is practised by all the saints who follow the example of Jesus Christ. We too need to practise this virtue to live a life worthy of our calling.

How can one become humble?

We become humble by imitating Jesus Christ. He humbled himself by being obedient and submissive to the will of His Father. We too can become humble by being obedient to the word of God, to the teachings in the bible and to God’s personal will for our life.    

Pride is the opposite of humility. Pride seeks its own glory by displaying one’s gifts and talents, attributing the success to oneself, to exalt oneself. On the other hand, humility seeks for the glory of God, working under the grace and power of God, testifying to God’s goodness and exalting God.

Humility opens the door for God’s grace to operate in your life, whereas, pride opens the door for the devil to operate in your life.

A humble person is concerned with pleasing God and building others whereas a proud person only seeks for self-glorification. We must ensure that we constantly walk in humility. The best test for humility is the grace of God. If the grace of God is upon you, then surely you are walking in humility. If God is opposing you, then you must let go of the pride. He gives more grace. Therefore, it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (Jam 4:6)

Grace is the power of God, resting upon you, to do the supernatural. We see the grace of God upon Paul and Silas when they were in prison. Despite being chained and beaten, they were singing and rejoicing because the grace of God was upon them. 25 About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” 29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Act 16:26-30).

You may have moments in your life, when you were able to do the impossible because God’s grace was upon you. Those moments in your life were probably the moments you humbled yourself. True success is found in humility. The process of humility is not alluring, but the outcomes are outstanding. True humility is emptying yourself and getting moulded according to our Heavenly Father’s will. When you begin this journey of self-emptying you may experience a lot of anguish, but it is through humiliation and suffering one learns humility. Whatever God allows you to endure will only make you stronger, because God’s grace is always enough for you. “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me (2 Cor 12: 9).

How do you truly evaluate yourself? Some people see themselves in the mirror and judge if they are doing alright. Others evaluate themselves by how everyone else perceives them. If you evaluate yourself by how you perceive yourself or how others perceive you, you will only achieve a false sense of humility, which is pride, because humility cannot be defined by worldly standards. Humility is seeing yourself through the eyes of God. If the grace of God defines who you really are then you truly are a humble person.

Humility is not being a doormat, it is not an outward façade, it is not people-pleasing, it is not self-seeking, it is not a weakness. True humility is a life surrendered to the will of God. Humility is serving others. Humility is complete obedience to God. Humility is the power of God working in you for His glory. It is His grace working in you and through you. Humility is God’s power made perfect in your weakness.

To begin this journey of humility, the first step is to obey God wholeheartedly. To obey His will, you must read the bible and do what it tells you to do, and the more you comply, the humbler you become. Learning involves not just accumulating knowledge but practising what you learn. Humility requires a teachable spirit. It is good to acquire knowledge, but if you lack humility, then knowledge will only puff you up and make you more arrogant. Humility helps you to apply the knowledge in a prudent way. Pride destroys, whereas, humility helps you grow.

Humility is the most sort out virtue of all, because through humility it opens the door to all other virtues. Humility increases holiness, generosity, confidence, prudence, fortitude, reverence, wisdom. It is out of humility all other virtues spring forth, because humility builds you up. The Lord God saves everyone who humbles themselves. Humility leads to eternity. For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation (Ps 149:4 ESV)

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