Humility – 6

Humility – 6

Subject – Our Relationship with People

By Rick Welborne

1 John 4:19-21 (NLT2) ¹⁹ We love each other because He loved us first.
²⁰  If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?
²¹  And He has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters. 

--It is a sobering thought that our love for God is measured by our everyday relationships with others. What this is proving to us that our love for God may be a delusion. 

--It is easy to think we are humble before God, but our humility toward others is the only sufficient proof that our humility before God is real. Ouch!

--For our humility to be real, it must abide in us and become our very nature. We must be like Jesus where it says, He made Himself of no reputation. He was not worried about self, but of others.

--As we serve God and follow Him, humility is not something we put on for a while like when we are thinking about Him or praying, it must be who we are all the time. 

--Our truest humility is not the kind we show on Sunday morning when we come and bow our hearts and heads before Him for a time, but it is something we live out in our normal lives. 

Matthew 15:7-8 (NKJV) ⁷ Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
⁸  'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 

--What we really should give thought to, our daily acts, how we talk to the clerk at the store or the person we serve with at church, these are our tests of what is really on the inside.

--It’s in those moments when we are the most unguarded that we show who we really are and what we are made of. To know if someone is truly humble, you would have to follow them all day.

--This is what Jesus taught when He washed the disciples’ feet. Humility by demonstration. Humility before God is nothing if it is not proven in humility before others.

1. Paul’s Teaching on Humility Before Others. 

Romans 12:9-10, 16 (NIV) ⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
¹⁰  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
¹⁶  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 

--There is no genuine love without humility. Listen to the Apostle Paul teaching us about love and humility.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV) ⁴  Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
⁵  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
⁶  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
⁷  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸  Love never fails. 

Ephesians 4:1-3 (NIV)
¹  As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
²  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
³  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 

Colossians 3:12-13 (NIV) ¹² …clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
¹³  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

--It is seen in our relationships with one another, in our treatment of each other, that we truly see if we have the mind of Christ and if we have a heart of humility.

--Our humility before God has no value except that it prepares us to reveal the humility of Jesus to those we encounter every day.

2. Honor Others Above Yourselves.

--A truly humble person seeks at all times to live up to the rule: Honor one another above yourselves; serve one another; consider others better than yourselves; submit to one another.

--How can we consider others better than ourselves when we see they are far below us in wisdom, in holiness, in gifts, or in the grace we have received? We have to see what true humility is.

Andrew Murray – True humility comes when before God we see ourselves as nothing, have put self aside, and let God be all. The soul that has done this can say, “I have lost myself in finding you,” no longer compares itself with others. It has given up forever any thought of self in God’s presence; it meets its fellowmen as one who is nothing and seeks nothing for itself; who is a servant for God and for His sake is the servant of all.

Martin Luther – God created the world out of nothing, and as long as we are nothing, He can make something out of us.

2 Cor. 10:12 (NIV) ¹² We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.

--A faithful servant may be wiser than his master and yet retain the true spirit and posture humility. Naaman and his servant. The humble man looks upon every brother or sister as a child of God.

--The Spirit of Jesus Who willingly washed the disciples’ feet makes it a joy to be the least, to be servants of one another. Honor others above yourselves. 

--The truly humble person feels no jealousy or envy. He can praise God when others are chosen and blessed before him. When you see yourself as nothing, you are happy for the other person.

--We all battle the temptation to be irritated and impatient with others. We fight against thoughts and sharp words that want to come out of our mouths when we see people mess up.

--But the truly humble person carries in his spirit and heart what shows up in his life, “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, even as the Lord has forgiven you.

Romans 13:14 (NLT2) ¹⁴ Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

Romans 13:14 (NKJV)
¹⁴  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

--What does clothe yourself mean or to put on Jesus? We have learned that clothing ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ is putting on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, and longsuffering.

--Jesus has taken the place of self and now we can forgive like Jesus forgave. Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing. Even when they are crucifying you.

--We are commanded to “put on” the Lord Jesus Christ but we find way too often that we are just “putting on” when it comes to clothing ourselves with the humility of Jesus.

--We are so tempted of having an appearance of being “super spiritual” by demonstrating the more visible virtues such as joy, boldness, abstinence from the world, and even self-sacrifice.

--But what I truly believe is lacking in the modern church are virtues which are connected with the cross and a willingness to die to self like being poor in spirit, meekness, humility, compassion, longsuffering…

--Winning the lost and being loaded with spiritual gifts are great attributes but how we love and treat each other are showing what being like Jesus was all about.

3. The Most Humble Man Who Ever Lived – The Lord Jesus.

Question – Can the world see in us any likeness to the Original, that is, to Jesus? Are we living in such a way that people see first and foremost in us this beautiful spirit of humility?

--We should never become content with a gospel that tells us that we are better than others because of our Christianity, but a relationship with Jesus that makes us humble and contrite.

--As we look at every sin and mistake we make on a daily basis, let it make us run to the One Who was perfect before God and man. We need to let this mind be in us that was in Jesus (Phil.2).

George Fox – I sought Jesus to do something in me, and when I gave Him my will, He came to my heart, and took out all that would not be sweet, all that would not be kind, all that would not be patient, and then He shut the door.

Luke 18:10-13 (NKJV)
¹⁰  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
¹¹  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men--extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.
¹²  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'
¹³  And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'

--As we listen to the most humble man (the God man Jesus) describe two men who, in my mind, represent the church and the attitudes that are prevalent to this day, hear His conclusion:

Luke 18:14 (NKJV)
¹⁴  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." 

--As we have already said, it is so tragic that the church has so little concept of what it truly means to be humble before God and man. 

--As we examine the church, as we examine ourselves, it appears the lack of humility that we have is a great reason for the trouble and difficulty we have endured for years.

--Humility always seeks, like Jesus, to be the servant, the helper, the comforter of others, even those who appear to be lesser than ourselves. We love and serve like Jesus.

Matthew 23:11-12 (NKJV)
¹¹  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
¹²  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.