Sabbath: Humility of the Wise
Read for This Week’s Study: Proverbs 30, Luke 18:9–14, Job 38:1–40:2, 1 John 1:9, Rev. 3:14–18, Psalm 104:24.
Memory Text: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
(Matthew 5:3, NKJV).
In the Bible, humility is considered an important virtue. The greatest of prophets, Moses, is singled out as the most humble person who ever lived (Num. 12:3, NKJV). 
According to Micah 6:8, the main duty that God expects from people is to walk humbly with your God
(NKJV). Jesus, too, insists that humility is an ideal that the Christian should adopt: Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven
(Matt. 18:4, NKJV).
After all, what does anyone have to boast about? Every breath, every heartbeat, every gift, every talent, comes only from God, in whom we live, and move, and have our being
(Acts 17:28). And in light of the cross, even all our righteousness is as filthy rags
(Isa. 64:6); how, then, can we boast?
This week Proverbs looks at humility; considering our situation, how foolish is it to be anything but humble?
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 21.
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humble thyself so that u may may be exalted
When Job tried to justify himself, the Lord posed a series of questions that Job could not answer; the creation of the earth, the laws of nature, the amazing creatures in nature and their ways, the foundation of the ordinances of heavenly bodies, the majesty of the universe stretched out in eternity,Job was speechless and greatly humbled. Finally he said "Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know".He said of the Lord "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes".
Humble thyself so that you may be exalted as Mickson chigona posted on March 13th is so true. The greatest minds, the most famous writers and scientists have all expressed their humility when faced by the totality of knowledge. Sir Isaac Newton, when contemplating the laws of physics, said "If I have been able to see further (into the laws of physics), it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants" Newton, Faraday, Einstein,Bacon et.al. were God fearing men who acknowledged their Creator for giving them understanding and so they were exhalted.
I contrast, today we see the very opposite. Men glorifying themselves and seeking to be their own god. the god they worship is evolution, which is the highest form of insult and blasphemy to our omnipotent and loving Creator God! Indeed this is the reason why we are experiencing the baleful consequences of such a philosophy, man worshiping man, and walking in haughty pride. They have sidelined the Creator who made everything. Truly, the "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" May we always remember to praise Him and be grateful for our life and our beautiful earth.
Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all....When someone sings his own praises, he always gets the tune too high,but if you let God be exalted and praise Him n Him alone,it would be well.
God does not expect us to not think of ourselves "at all." Otherwise, the health message would be wrong. How then could we love our neighbor as ourself?
But we do well to see our finite and naturally sinful selves in comparison to the infinite and holy God. Who do we think we are? We use the materials around us and can make machines that do powerful things for us, but God can, from nothing, make a universe of galaxies beyond our ability to comprehend.
Yet the Creator died for us. Our value is beyond our comprehension, because His sacrifice is beyond our comprehension. Yes, praise the Lord, the Lord alone!
Hi John,
It seems to me that Jesus set the example of self-forgetful love. He focused on the work that the Father gave Him to do, and that was the salvation of mankind.
The summation of the law which tells us to love our neighbors "as ourselves" recognizes the fundamental truth of human existence - that everyone loves him/herself best - even criminals who were supposed to have low self-esteem according to the wisdom of psychologists some time back. So you wonder, what about people who are down on themselves, discouraged, commit suicide, etc. If you'll stop to analyze the thinking process that leads to such states of mind, I believe you will find that it is always a focus on self. Satan doesn't care whether we focus on our own goodness or on our own evil, as long as we focus on self and not on Christ.
A focus on Christ would eliminate pride as well as feelings of worthlessness.
That's why I believe Josiah's comment is spot on.
As to how this relates to the health message: We are God's property, and He gave us the job of taking care of His property, and that includes our bodies, minds, emotions, etc.
That's how I see it.
Inge, in reading and re-reading this thread, I suspect we are interpreting Josiah's comment differently. I wish he could clarify the phrase "freedom from thinking about yourself at all." Perhaps I read it too literally. If it were to be taken literally, than it would suggest that Jesus would have been out of "humility" when He prayed the prayer of John 17:1-26. There were a lot of references to Himself in that prayer (i.e. every verse but verse 17). But Jesus was perfect in all ways, without sin.
If on the other hand, Josiah meant that our purpose in life should be to put the will and glory of God first and highest in our priorities, then that would relatively put self-interest out of sight. In that sense, I agree with your take on Josiah's comment.
Pride arise when one does nt walk according to Gods commandment
When we truly see God for who He is, we stand in awe of His majesty and accept His Supremacy. We see we are nothing without His direction. No wonder \"the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). So we must bow down our ears in humility and listen to the directions and impressions of God in order to receive and apply God\'s divine wisdom (Prov. 22:17).
The choice in the end will be ours as to whether we choose to humbly listen to council so we may be wise (Prov. 19:20) or to be wise in our on eyes Prov. 12:15. Our Father in heaven however is ready to give this wisdom to all who will humbly seek it (James 1:5)
None is lost purely because of sin, but on account of refusal to repent. So too many will nominate themselves candidates for the fire of destruction not by choosing atheism but having come into contact with truth find it too inconvenient to embrace certain elements. In both cases pride is the prime mover or common denominator.
One may consider himself sufficiently righteous, by his own low or absent standard and see no need for repentance (Proverbs 30:12), while another may take a casual attitude to the testimony of scripture and not bother to observe some things. The believer feeling he is not accountable for what he does not know may decline to study Bible passages or entertain the preacher of righteousness. Yet willing ignorance is not an acceptable excuse in the judgment.
Believers answer for the truth they declined to entertain, because it is an indication of lack of humility. And humility is necessary to unseat pride, the original sin.
The poor in spirit who inherit the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:3) do not falsely assure themselves that they are doing well enough spiritually. They readily acknowledge their poverty of spirit and continually seek a higher plane of righteousness. They also inquire what more might the Lord require of them. They patiently wait for the Master to say, “Okay that is enough.”
Appearance matter too. Even an unsanctified look or disposition could disturb Heaven (Proverbs 30:13). That through six thousand years of deterioration and degradation we have become so adjusted to sin and sinfulness it is hard to imagine what perfection looks like. Still we are not called to settle for less. Humility is the path to purity; for only in this can the Spirit do a complete work (Philippians 2:13).
God gave all so we do not have to provide anything for salvation. He then asks us to surrender all. The message to the Laodicean church is ‘All or nothing.’ (Revelation 3:14-21) There is no place in the Heaven for part timers, whose piety depend on climate, culture or convenience. True disciples observe and obey all things as Jesus instructs (Matthew 28:20) and are pleased to do so.
If Jesus, righteous as He is, humbled Himself up to the level of a servant and died for sinners, who are we to exault ourselves? We are proud, arrogant & selfish. How shall we win souls over to Christ? How can we win over those hardened hearts if we arent gentle in spirit? No one wil want to be on the same team with us.
The truly humble will glory in the grace of God and in the cross, not in self-righteousness.
Please tell me more about humility?How does a humble person behave?
Now that is an excellent question!
I suppose the short answer would be that a humble person acts like Jesus. 🙂 Another example would be Moses. So a humble person acts like Moses.
However, Moses was not humble when He tried to refuse God's call, saying he could not speak well. (God was not pleased with him.) A more humble attitude would have been to believe that God would give him the needed speaking ability.
I believe a humble person will put God first and not consult personal convenience. A humble person will avoid drawing attention to him/herself, instead leadgin people to focus on Jesus.
In my life experience I have discovered that, sometimes, the people who look most humble are not humble at all. They just act a certain way to be seen as humble. So we cannot judge by outward experience. All we can really do is to be fully committed to Jesus ourselves.
Grace,
I live out in the mountains and i have come to learn some of the great lessons in nature. You asked about how does a humble person behave?
I look outside our home and most of what meets my eyes are trees. One sabbath afternoon i was sitting on a big boulder beside our house looking down on the plain and asked God to speak to me.
Right before me was this small tree growing from beside of the rock i was on. As i stared at it God spoke to my mind and taught me a lesson.
This is what i learned- Trees (Plants) they don't complain. Comes the rain, sun, snow or storm they just quietly bare through it all. They don't complain about their location or of the other plants around them. They make the most of what they are offered and do their best to produce that lovely flower or fruit to the glory of their Maker.
A truly humble person NEVER Complains... Praise the Lord.
The Lord is coming soon. The best thing we can do for our souls is to remain humble, trust and obey.