Pursuing Humility By Loving It in Christ



Some would say Dan is painfully introverted.  He not only feels awkward in group settings, but goes out of his way to avoid them.  He shows up at church right as the service is starting and slips out during the closing song.  It would be difficult for him to name even three people he could identify as close friends.


Shannon enjoys a good argument.  Sometimes she posts provocative statements on social media just to get a rise out of her friends, family, and acquaintances.  She’s not necessarily passionate about any particular issue, but likes the feeling of being able to hold her own in a confrontation. 


Few people in town talk as much as Chad.  He’s known for monopolizing conversations.  At church, work, and most other public settings where he is likely to run into people he knows, he often sees people pretending not to see him or overtly avoiding him.


Michael’s biggest pet peeve is to be corrected in front of a group of people.  His knee-jerk reaction is to come back with condescending sarcasm.  The impulse to defend himself over the smallest perceived disrespect seems uncontrollable.  Accordingly, those who know him best are very careful never to challenge him, not even to confront obvious sinful patterns in his life. 


Ilene is a flirt.  No matter the size of a gathering, she gravitates to the most attractive man in the room and engages him in conversation.  Compliments, self-deprecating humor, indiscriminate laughter, soft touches on the shoulder to emphasize a point—she has a large repertoire of moves and uses them deftly.  She’s never committed adultery and swears she never would.  She may be right, but you would never know it by watching her.


These people have in common the same root issue.  So do you and me.  They…we…are habitual self-seekers.  Like our first parents Adam and Eve, who sought to exalt themselves, we too consider ourselves more significant than others.  The Bible calls this pride.  Most of us are well aware of a besetting sin or issue that we need to work on, whether lust, gossip, or financial irresponsibility.  What we may not understand is that all these issues have pride at the heart.  From the introvert to the flirt, the foundational problem underlying every ungodly or undesirable attitude or action is pride.   


So how do we overcome this universal problem?  It’s not as simple as trying to hate pride.  As Thomas Chalmers wrote, “It is not enough to understand the worthlessness of the world; one must value the worth of the things of God.”1  This is true.  We must not only hate pride, but love humility.  We must not only put off the mindset of self-exaltation, but put on the mindset of humility, a focus on God and others.2


However, the pursuit of a particular virtue as an abstract quality is difficult to sustain for a couple of reasons.  First, an abstract quality is difficult to picture.  We need to have a clear view of what we’re after.  We need to know what it would look like to be humble.  Second, a particular virtue in the abstract is difficult to love You likely couldn’t find five people who could say with wholehearted sincerity, “I just love patience,” or “I adore chastity.”  These abstract virtues, while…virtuous, do not light a fire in our souls.  For that reason, we do not pursue them with gusto.  We only truly pursue what we love.

Perhaps that is why in commending humility to the Philippians (“…in humility count others more significant than yourselves…” [2:3b]), Paul pointed them not merely to the virtue in the abstract but to the virtue exemplified in Christ:


 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

(Phil. 2:5-8)


Meditation on the virtue of Christ addresses both of the aforementioned impediments.  In the case of humility, when we take the time to look at how this virtue is manifested in the life of Jesus, then the abstract becomes concrete.  We have a much clearer idea of what it actually means to be humble.  More importantly, when we see humility at work in the life of Christ—how it has touched us personally—we come to love humility, not as a concept but as part of the character of our great God and Savior.  We are truly able to say, “I love the humility of Jesus.  I want to be like Him.”

For this reason, it is crucial to grow in Christ by loving His character, rather than simply trying to embrace abstract qualities divorced from His life and example.  In the case of humility, as Paul indicated in Phil 2:5ff, we should look to humility in His life.  Behold it.  Be amazed by it.  Be convicted by it.  Love it.  By His power, emulate it.  


So, this will be the first in a series of occasional articles considering facets of the humility of Christ, with a view toward our own growth in humility.  Any benefit you might derive from these articles would only be accentuated by your own reading through the Gospels, looking for manifestations of Christ’s humility, meditating on them, comparing them to your own heart, and praying for His heart.  May the Lord grant us to love Him and therefore become humble like Him.


Chalmers, The Expulsive Power of A New Affection. Kindle Version, location 140.

Stuart Scott, From Pride to Humility, 6.

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