I praise You, O Gracious Lord, for as I humble myself before You, You will shower me with Your mercy and grace. Pride makes me stiff and unyielding which is the reason You must soften me in the warm waters of trials and adversity. In my desire to remain true to You, I do not want to practice false humility in the hopes of escaping Your judgment. What I need is Your help in developing a servant’s heart. For true humility is not seen in inadequacy or worthlessness … it is more about whether I hold You and others in higher esteem than I hold myself. If I can acknowledge how great You are, I do not have to put myself down so that You can be exalted. You do not need me to make You look better than You are. Valuing everyone and everything You have made exalts You all the more. Disparaging myself does not make me look better than I am and it does not make me look more humble. The best way to practice humility is by lifting You up and honoring my brothers and sisters.
True humility calls me to not think more highly of myself than I should. It requires submission to Your power and position … and, service to my fellow man. Pride must shrink while selfless service increases. Offering You my time, talents and resources is essential to becoming a servant. To pretend that I am holy does not make me holy any more than pretending to be humble shows true humility. Without You in my life, I am nothing … but, with You, I can be and do anything. This fact, in itself, should prevent me from becoming haughty because my real position is being determined by Your mercy and grace at work in my life. In the same way that You guide me with compassion and love, so should I show forth Your example to others … sharing the blessings of being Your child. My service should be based on a strong conviction of who You are and an expression of thanksgiving for all You do for me. Tenderheartedness should not be confused with weakness … or true humility with self-debasement.
Each person has been blessed with their own special gifts and talents. The more we use them to build up Your Kingdom, the closer we move toward becoming a servant. And, the more we strive to become a true servant, the more we are building a foundation for true humility. My humility is my way of expressing appreciation for Your love and care. To be humble, I must be willing to place You first and commit myself to helping my brethren. I hope that my service to You becomes the means by which You soften my hard heart so I can respond in true humility. As I find myself submitting to Your will, I will begin to diminish so that You can be exalted. As I undertake the role of meeting the needs of others, I will become less focused on “me” and more like “You”. O Wise Master, teach me true humility through my devotion to You and showing love to others. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
I Peter 5:5 All of you, clothe yourself with humility … because God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble.