Sunday: The Greatness of Humility
Who doesn’t aspire to greatness? That is, who doesn’t want to be great or do great things? This desire doesn’t always have to arise from selfishness or from ego or arrogance. It could simply be doing the very best that you can at whatever you do, hoping perhaps that what you do could even bring blessings upon others. (See also Eccles. 9:10.)
Image © Jeff Preston from GoodSalt.com
The problem, however, comes in defining “greatness.” How easy for our fallen human minds to understand the concept in a way that vastly differs from God’s view.
Read Matthew 18:1-4. According to Jesus, what is true greatness, and how are we to understand it in a way that we can apply it to our own lives?
To define true greatness, Jesus called a child to stand before Him and said, “‘Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven’” (Matthew 18:4, NKJV). Jesus didn’t talk about being a great preacher, or a great businessman, or even a great philanthropist. Greatness, in the sight of God, is what we are inside, not what we do externally, though no doubt what’s inside will impact what we do externally.
Notice, Jesus defines greatness in a way that most people in the world don’t. After all, who wakes up one day and decides that the greatness he or she wants in life is to be as humble as a little child? It seems strange to us, to aspire to something like that, but this is only because we are so tainted by the world’s principles, ideas, and concepts.
What does it mean to be humble like a little child? One of the indicators of humility is obedience, putting God’s Word ahead of our own will. If you are on the wrong path in your life, then that’s because you’re on your own path. The solution is simple: humble yourself and get back on God’s path through obedience to His Word. If Adam and Eve had stayed humble, they would not have sinned. It’s interesting to consider that the tree of life and the tree of knowledge were both located in the middle of the garden. Often life and destruction aren’t far apart. The difference is humility.
| What are some other attitudes and ideas we hold only because of our contact with the world, attitudes and ideas that are in conflict with the Word of God? Bring your answer to class on Sabbath. |
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Humility needed because we have nothing to be proud of.God hold today and the future.
The question in Matthew 18:1 is a perfect example of selfishness and lack of humility. The Disciples desire to feed their competitive edge grew with every opportunity. Other examples, the position of James and John by their mother.Matt20:20,21,24. One might wonder in their minds, what the Kingdom of Heaven consisted of? Jesus had made reference to the Kingdom of heaven in Matt. 10:7, Matt. 13:44,45,47,52. and others, but was the position of inquiry in Matt.18:1 one of temporal or Spiritual kingship?
we have to devalue our lives and value the life of jesus who died for us.
I think that true humility is not possible with selfishness as the primary motivation. I think that true humility is a product of the motivation of the Holy Spirit upon the human brain.
If the Holy Spirit is not motivating my humility it is not according to the true character of God and is not acceptable.
Ever heard of someone who is proud of his humility?
Thank you Don Litchfield.
For if I am proud of MY humility, then I am not humble, I have pride! So any good that may drip from me, I should not have self evaluation for boasting about it, for any way it cannot come from carnal me, but from Christ who lives in me.
Am I sealed off not to even pride in Christ and the Holy Spirit living in me?
Yes, I think the working of the Holy Spirit is the basic answer to the basic question, as to how evil streams of thought are turned into the opposite direction, which is a miracle (John 1:12-13; 3:3.5). Therefore, the passive translation of the New King James Version is hitting the point (unless you are converted), unless you are turned around. The impossibility of doing it all be ourselves is clearly stated in Scripture (Jeremiah 13:23; John 15:5). The disciples needed this experience as we do today. The apostle Paul also is speaking of a constant change taking place in looking to Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Winfried Stolpmann
We cannot be humble if the old man keeps poping up in us,by the way is there a difference between humbleness & meekness?If yes,i'd rather be meek than humble-Matthew 5:5.To be great in the real sence i think is to be foolish,a child like,because that which everybody is doing & expects you to do you'll do the other thing unique from theirs.
As Christians we should desist from being number one always. Example is Lucifer who had everything to be admired about but he fell because of his foolishness and left the comforts of heaven where each and every individual on earth is striving to be one day. Communing with our Lord Jesus.
Pride and a sense of greatness vanish when we realize we are all sinners saved by grace. It is foolish to argue over who is the greatest. We only worry about our status in life and compare ourselves to others when we are looking at others. When we look at Jesus we know who is the greatest, and its not you and it definitely is not me! Jesus is the greatest. I love Jesus' words in Mark 10:42-45.
"But Jesus called them [to him], and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." Mark 10:42-45 KJV
Amen
The great arises out of small things that are honored and cared for. Everybody’s life really consists of small things. Greatness is a mental concept and a favorite fantasy of “the fallen human mind.” The paradox is that the foundation for greatness is a humble honoring of the small things of the present moment instead of following the idea of greatness. This present moment is always small in the sense that it is always simple, but concealed within it lies the greatest power – Holy Spirit power ... Like the atom , it is one of the smallest and seemingly invisible thing, yet contains enormous power. Only when you align yourself with the present moment do you have access to that power (Matthew 6:25-34). Or it may be more accurate to say that IT then has access to you and through you to this world. Jesus was referring to this power when he said, “ It is not I but the Father within me who does the works.” And “I can of my own self do nothing.” When we as disciples turn our focus away from the cross and look to our own self power, we engage this “fallen nature of the mind”. Then the delusion that we are separate from the Holy Spirit's power that runs the universe returns. You feel alone again, struggling against something or trying to achieve this or that. And why did you do that? You thought something was more important. You forgot your main purpose. One small error, one misperception, creates a world of unnecessary suffering.
Through present moment focus of the cross of Christ, you have access to the power of life itself, that which has traditionally been called “God.” As soon as you turn away from it , God ceases to be a reality in your life, and all you are left with is a mental concept of God, which some people believe in and others deny. Even belief in God is only a poor substitute for the living reality of God manifesting every moment of your life, via His Holy Spirit.
We have a motto in our family that says "Be humble, pray hard and work hard". I have found it basically enriching especially when the combination includes putting our labors to the Lord. Even when you toil, you just realize its not you but God who in essence provides the energy and motivation for the toil. I think the pride and the feeling for greatness also vanishes (much as it keeps cropping up often in our thoughts) when we know its God doing whatever we do and/or plan to do. I pray never to forget that in all my endeavors! God bless you all!
All those things that we put as substitutes in our lives are considered to be idols. In Genesis 3:6,7, Adam and Eve substituted God’s word by accepting Lusifer’s advice and sin and suffering entered the world.
In Mathew 18:1; The disciples were often concerned about the question of greatness. They seem to ask this question thinking that Jesus has already chosen one of them as greatest, or as if they wanted Jesus to decide among them. We can imagine the disciples arguing among themselves about which one was the greatest then saying, "Let's ask Jesus to settle this." They thought of their own advancement; and wanted to know who would hold the highest position in the administration Jesus would soon establish. They dreamt of a distribution of honors and offices, a worldly monarchy, like the kingdoms of the earth."
Even the Mothers of the disciples sometimes got into this- Mathew 20:21. But all the disciples are hoping that the position of the greatest should be his. They were yet to learn of humility that Jesus wanted them to know and this is what we should grasp from the Saturday par – TO BE HUMBLE.
We don’t often argue openly about who is the greatest, do we? Are there other subtle or not so subtle ways we do this?
Does this occur in personal relationships? How about someone who tries to put another person down or in less favorable light when speaking to others because that person got something they wanted…. Like a promotion at work when they didn’t, like recognition for something they did when the other person thought they deserved it, the boyfriend/girlfriend the other person wanted, or monetary assistance or a gift from someone when they felt they deserved it, too. The list could go on and on. Are these examples of contending for who is the greateast?
I once was working beside two women, one older and one younger, while cleaning a church fellowship hall room. As I listened to their conversation I realized that they were both relating examples back and forth about all the times they did cleaning for the church, volunteered to do different activities, brought food to fellowship meals, and on and on. I got the feeling they were in competition to tally the highest points of "Christian" service and out do the other. I began to wonder where humility played a part in this exchange. But then I had to check myself because in my observation of them, I may have been exalting myself thinking "what is wrong with them", "I'm glad I'm not like them", and in doing so I was becoming just as unhumble as they were.
In the world that we live in, we are often told that we can be anything we want to be. We are taught that it is your life and you ought to live it the way you want. Even in choosing a career, you need not consult anybody because you have to do what makes you happy. Jesus however, stand to correct these erroneous beliefs that teach us that true greatness is found in depending solely on God. Just as a little child always believes that his daddy is the most powerful and can stand for anything, we too ought to believe that all power and greatness is for God, not us. We can only be great if we think not of ourselves,our selfish motives and our wants. When we finally stop pushing agendas that will ascribe glory to us, only then shall we be great indeed.
except we grow to the level of saying let the will of God be done this humility cannot be achieved