When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. - 2 Chronicles 7:13-14
Humility commonly gets a bad rap. Too often it is incorrectly defined as weak, indecisive,
uncertain, and powerless. Humility is much greater than those paltry descriptions. True humility brings with it rewards that cannot be imagined, let alone be obtained, by any other method. “The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.” - Proverbs 22:4. But we must not misconstrue what ‘riches’ means. We are not promised prosperity by the proverb or anywhere else in the Bible. Its meaning manifests itself in a more spiritually reverent life.
Imagine the honor we would show our parents if we were humble toward them. We would respect humanity showing no strife, or anger, or violence. We would never engage in adultery or sexual sin. We would respect what belongs to our neighbor, never stealing what is rightfully theirs. We would never suffer the consequences of untruthfulness. And we would never show envy or jealousy. We would truly be living according to the second greatest commandment - “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” - Philippians 2:3. Would this not be treating others as we want to be treated? Can we even imagine a world where all mankind displayed such humility?
We know that we live in a fallen world simply by introspection in our own lives, dealing with other humans, watching the news, or simply considering the history of this world. Paul speaks to us in Galatians - “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” - Galatians 5:19-21. To each of the fallen behaviors that Paul lists, all could be avoided by practicing humility because these are all sins of pride and true humility conquers pride!
We are fooling no one, least of all, God, when we imply that we have no moral compass for our worldly behavior. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” - Micah 6:8. God truly loves a humble heart. There is almost no better definition of a Godless person than one who is ruled by his pride.“Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.” - Proverbs 16:5. God abhors pride in the strongest sense.
The world we live in demands that we respond to every slight with a slap, every slap with a punch, and every punch with a kick but is that really how we are to show wisdom, compassion, understanding, and forgiveness? We know how Christ told us to respond to insult. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Matthew 5:38-39.
Humility is the pathway to peace and tranquility. We show our knowledge and understanding through our humility And without it, all we will ever experience is hostility, friction, and discord. “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” - Proverbs 11:2.
The blessings associated with humility will only come to us if we are indeed truly humble and never while we are consumed with our worldly pride.
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