Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (I Peter 5:6,7 ESV)
Humility
I have a friend who is a fantastic guitar player. I have played the guitar for many years, and have steadily improved. I can play most styles, improvise, accompany, and solo. Sometimes I feel a bit of pride for my guitar skills. And you might think I have reason to be proud.
But when I hear my friend play, all pride crashes to the mud.
HE is a great guitar player. As good as I think I am, his skill overshadows mine. As good as I think I am, he plays circles around me. As good as I think I am, he teaches me every time I hear him play.
There is always someone better than we are.
We are commanded by God to seek to be humble.
And that is hard. Because sometimes we are very good at things.
Humility is something we learn best at the feet of Jesus. Because HE is the best, the most worthy, perfect, admirable, copyable, an example to follow in every righteous area of life.
Having Jesus in your life allows us to be humble. When we start feeling pride, whether because of an act of kindness, patience, obedience, or even humility, think about Jesus for a moment. As good as we think we are, He is more. Infinitely more.
And the best part is that comparing ourselves to Jesus, while leading to humility, also gives us joy.
Because we get to think about Him.
His greatness does not make us jealous. We can easily be humbled by Him, because His yoke is easy. Saying, “Jesus is perfect” does not lead us to low self esteem.
Jesus is the only One who can teach us humility like that.