HUMILITY THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENT

HUMILITY THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENT

Promotion comes not from the east, or the west, or from the north, or from the south; for God is judge; He puts one down and sets up another. (Psalms 75:6)

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. (1 Peter 5:6)

How do we receive a serious and blessed calling from God? It is only when we humble ourselves. One preacher put it like this: “The way up, is down!”

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The LORD lifts up the humble

but casts the wicked to the ground. (Psalms 147:6)

Two very humble people who had great faith and were blessed by the Lord Jesus, were the Centurion in Mark 8:8

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

And the Syro-Phoenician lady in Mark 17:27-30

“First let the children eat all they want,” Jesus told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their (pet) dogs.” “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the (pet) dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Paul the apostle's desire for the Christians in Philippi:

“Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus...”

(Philippians 2:2-5)

Paul's view of himself:

“Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” (Ephesians 3:8)

“For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” (1 Corinthians 15:9)

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But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud

but gives grace to the humble.”

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:6, 10)

The desire of every Christian should be humility. It is essential for effective worship and service, and bringing glory to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

FOR FURTHER STUDY

Psalms 22:6 (Jesus and King David), 25:9, 37:11, 131:1-2,

Proverbs 11:2, 15:33, 22:4,

Isaiah 66:2

Jeremiah 45:5

Micah 6:8

Zephaniah 3:11

Matthew 11:29, 18:2-4, 20:26-27, 23:12,

Luke 14:10, 17:10, 22:24-27,

1 Corinthians 15:10,

2 Corinthians 3:5, 11:30, 12:7,

Galatians 5:26, 6:14,

Colossians 3:12,

1 Peter 5:3-6