Teen Tree of Life. The Doctrine of Humility. Part 1.

BEFORE we begin, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, take a moment to name your sins to God the Father. This will allow you to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit as you read this booklet (EPH 5:18 & 1JO 1:9). IF YOU HAVE never believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have that opportunity right now. Simply tell God the Father that you are believing on His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you make that decision, you are now a believer and will always be a child of God! When you die, you will spend eternity with Him forever in heaven! (JOH 3:16 & ACT 16:31).

The word humility is defined as the quality or state of not thinking you are better than other people. The apostle Paul tells us to use humility in PHI 2:3: Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves… Many people think they’re humble but very few cultivate it in their lives. Humility is that state of mind which submits to the Divine Order in the universe and does not impiously exalt self. Divine Order is Divine Government with God in control. Divine Order is the Flow of the Spirit as we yield to His Guidance and Direction. Divine Government is the Word (truth) active in our lives. Humility is a lifelong lesson leading to the correct evaluation of self and is therefore the highest form of self-respect since it allows you to admit mistakes and make the proper adjustments.

An important thing to remember about humility is that it does not require you to hide your talents and virtues, but in empowers you with a clear knowledge in all that is lacking in your character. The Biblical essence of humility is not a feeling of insignificance or inferiority or of a low rank or low importance. Humility is a recognition of the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and submission to the Lord's Delegated Authority. The pastor-teacher is a delegated authority. Such submission is tantamount to perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine. To be neglectful toward doctrine is a blatant state of rebellion.

The mind of Christ commands us to examine ourselves: Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? (2CO 13:5)  The unexamined life is not worth living. The unexamined life is arrogant and against God. For many, their lives merely serve as a warning to others of what NOT to be like. How sad is that??? Humility creates in us the capacity for the closest possible intimacy with God. Humility is the complete opposite of arrogance and is the only true wisdom by which we prepare our minds for all the possible changes in life. The humble person realizes that whatever he has comes from God and is thankful for it: For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive [from God]? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? (1CO 4:7) The last line of this verse implies that there are believers who ignore what they have received from God and brag about what they have as if they were responsible for obtaining it!

An indicator of humility is gratitude. Sadly, thoughtless, selfish arrogance is a rampant in the world today. Absence of gratitude is a mark of an ignorant, narrow, arrogant attitude. Only humility paves the way for us to appreciate what God has done. And where there is appreciation, there is courtesy and concern for the rights and property of others. Humility is the first virtue to go when the believer exits the Pre-Designed Plan of God. In fact, whenever you become aware of your humility you have lost it! Think about that for a little while! It’s a flag to watch for in your own life.

Humility must be distinguished from humiliation. Humiliation is to reduce your view of self to a lower status in your eyes or the eyes of others whereas humility is the virtue of freedom from arrogance. In other words, there is no need to humiliate yourself in order to humble yourself.  The key in humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking more of others!

Where there is humility, self is no longer the issue. In the Bible, humility connotes independence from human power and ability and dependence on the Power and Ability of God. When there is maximum dependence on God's Power and Provisions, we see the true function of grace. Grace is the effectiveness of the Christian life. Humility, therefore, is a system of thinking based on Divine Viewpoint thinking related to Grace Orientation and Occupation with the Person and Mind of Jesus Christ. Humility is a system of cognition of Bible doctrine resulting in the believer living the Directive Will of God, rather than the Permissive Will of God! Humility is even more than a system of thinking; it is a way of life!

When you think with humility, you are free from both subjective arrogance (toward self) and objective arrogance (toward others). That is to say, you don’t belittle yourself or others.

Humility begins when you are happy with yourself; this means that you are happy with who God has made you to be: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. (1CO 15:10)

             EPH 2:10 teaches us that we are God's workmanship: For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. And because of this, there is no place for discontentment with who God has made you to be. Humility keeps us free from the numerous tentacles which reach out from the cosmic system. Humility does not include legalism, self-effacement, asceticism, or any other form of subjective arrogance. Humility includes recognition and submission to legitimate authority without feeling inferior or threatened. Humility is poise under the normal circumstances of life, and courage as under the abnormal circumstances of life. Courage and poise lends itself to perseverance and perseverance is power.

We each have a station or calling in life and humility is that which should motivate that calling! This is taught in EPH 4:1: Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called… PRO 15:33 tells us that respect for the Lord is us wanting to be instructed by His wisdom: The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom, And before honor comes humility. It is His wisdom which leads to humility and honor. On the other hand, PRO 11:2 informs us that arrogance is related to dishonor: When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom.

Humility is three-fold in that it is directed toward self, toward others, and toward legitimate authority in life. Humility renders the believer teachable and causes the believer to obey the Commands of God. Teachability recognizes two things: the authority of one's pastor-teacher and the content of his message.

{to be continued}