The character of humility

Pride is one of the hardest sins to recognise because pride often disguises itself as something good. We may call it confidence. Conviction. Leadership. Strength. Knowledge. Experience. Sometimes those things are genuine. But pride can quietly hide underneath them. Pride says, “I know better.” Humility says, “I may still have something to learn.” Pride says, “I am right.” Humility says, “Let me listen.” Pride says, “They should apologise to me.” Humility asks, “Have I contributed to this?” Pride protects reputation. Humility seeks truth.

Jesus was humble

If anyone had the right to exalt Himself, it was Jesus. Yet Paul writes:

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Then Paul points to Christ, as we saw in chapter 5. Jesus did not consider humility beneath Him. He embraced it. He washed feet. He served. He sacrificed. He submitted Himself to the Father’s will. True greatness in God’s kingdom is therefore completely different from greatness in the world. Jesus described Himself as “gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29).

Naaman: humility that obeys

Naaman was commander of the Syrian army, a great man in his master’s eyes, and he had leprosy. When he came to Elisha’s house with horses and chariots, the prophet did not even come out. He sent a messenger with a simple instruction: wash seven times in the Jordan. Naaman was furious. He had expected a ceremony, and he considered the rivers of Damascus better than any in Israel. “So he turned and went away in a rage” (2 Kings 5:12).

His servants gave him the counsel that saved him: if the prophet had asked something difficult, would he not have done it? How much more when he had only said, “Wash, and be clean”? Naaman listened, and he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, “and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean” (2 Kings 5:14). The healing was not complicated. The obstacle was pride. It was cured only when a great man was willing to be told what to do by a prophet who had not even come to the door.

Paul: the least of the apostles

Paul had every earthly credential. Yet he writes about himself with remarkable honesty:

For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain.

Notice the sentence, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” Humility is not denying what God has done. It is giving Him the credit for it. Elsewhere Paul describes himself as “less than the least of all the saints” (Ephesians 3:8). A man who knew what he had been, and what grace had done, had nothing left to boast about.

The danger of spiritual pride

There is also a religious form of pride. It can sound like, “I understand Scripture better than they do.” “I am more faithful than they are.” “I don’t make the mistakes they make.” “I understand prophecy.” “I keep God’s commandments.” “I have been a Christian for forty years.” All of those statements may contain facts. But facts can become fuel for pride. We met the Pharisee in chapter 9, who stood in the presence of God and congratulated himself. The tax collector had a very different prayer, and Jesus said that he went home justified. The lesson is unmistakable: God can do more with a humble sinner who knows he needs grace than with a religious person who believes he needs none.

Proverbs puts it simply: “When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2). And James, borrowing from Proverbs, gives both the warning and the promise:

God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble. … Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Humility that can be corrected

Humility does not mean denying the gifts God has given us. It means refusing to make self the centre. A humble person can be corrected, can admit wrong, and can rejoice when another person receives recognition. As we saw in chapter 18, John the Baptist could say, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” That is humility in its clearest form.