What is Humility?

In today’s culture there’s a tendency to define humility as basically just another word for uncertain. To be humble is to live in the land of doubt, to be without conviction, to be constantly unsure. A humble person, we are told, avoids black and white statements and doesn’t make any claims to know the absolute truth. The goal of this kind of false humility I am describing is to avoid any firm positions so that you don’t offend against anyone else’s personal feelings or perception of the truth, it’s also a way to avoid committing to the truth yourself since you’re so “unsure”, but the end result of this false humility is actually self-exaltation above God.

This is because true humility is not uncertainty or unbridled open-mindedness, no rather True Humility is submission to God as He is revealed in his Word. This is taught in Prov 22:4 when it says “Humility is the fear of the Lord.” Humility is a disposition of the heart towards God that recognizes that He is God and you are not. To be humble is to be God-centered, it is to be focused and oriented towards glorifying God. What He says is good, we praise. What He says is bad, we condemn. When he says jump, we ask “how high?” So what that means is- to claim uncertainty where God is clear is not humility, it is the height of pride. But it’s a bit of a paradox because as soon as you stand firm on God’s word and proclaim the truth the world will accuse you of arrogance.

To the world, submission to God’s word is pride. But in reality, Pride is the opposite. Pride is a refusal to submit to God and His word. When the Bible says in Prov 23:13 that if you spank your child you will deliver his soul from Hell, humility obeys faithfully even though the world screams that you are going against the modern consensus, it is Pride disguised as gentleness that says “no you don’t need to do that, haven’t you heard of gentle parenting?”

When the scriptures say that God created the whole world in six days it is humility that believes Genesis 1, even though to the world it looks arrogant to go against the scientific priesthood.

When John says that if you believe in the Son then you have eternal life, it is a sneaky pride that says “well, this certainly doesn’t apply to you. Do you really think that God would forgive you? No that’s not possible, I mean look at all the sin in your life, you might as well just give up!” But it is the humble heart that submits to the assurance found here and says with gratitude “I believe in Jesus, and that means that despite my feelings, despite my doubts, I’m saved!”

See there’s a temptation when what is revealed to us in scripture clashes with our corrupt leanings to claim that doubting these things is really the humble thing to do, but doubting God is prideful. We are called to submit to God’s word and conform our feelings, our thoughts, and even our doubts to what is revealed to us in scripture. So reject pride in all its forms, and come in humility to drink from the wellspring of Scripture.

This exhortation was given to the King's Church in Spokane Valley WA on March 2 2024