A Deep Dive Into Humility, Part 11: The Blessings of Humility

July 21, 2022 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments

Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement | Tags: humility, faith, joy, peace, blessings

I started this series by giving several reasons why it is valuable to focus on humility. One of those reasons is that humility is the well-spring of all blessing and virtue. We see this in the oft-quoted proverb, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (Jms. 4:6). I would like to draw out and unpack those blessings that flow from humility.

  1. Humility leads to faith and justification. Perhaps it should go without saying, but it needs to be said nonetheless, you cannot have faith in Christ as your savior without humility. Faith in Christ involves the confession of sin and the casting of oneself upon Christ alone for salvation from sin, forsaking all other means of rescue. We are justified, counted righteous in the presence of God, solely by our faith in Christ.
  1. Humility leads to fruitfulness in Christ. If humility leads to faith and faith unites us to Christ, then humility is the gateway to abiding in Christ. Jesus says in John 15:5, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” A proud heart does not abide in Christ, but in oneself. Therefore, only the humble abide in Christ and enjoy fruitfulness.
  1. Humility leads to contentment. David declares in Psalm 131, “I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul.” A humble soul is content with God and the provisions of God. This is Paul’s testimony in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” This verse is about contentment in Christ, not about athletic abilities. Humility is essential for finding contentment in life.
  1. Humility leads to hunger for Christ. Perhaps this seems to contradict contentment, but it doesn’t. Contentment is the present enjoyment of what God has given. This hunger is the hopeful expectation that God has more to give us in Christ. More understanding of truth. More humility. More peace. More joy. More holiness. More fruitfulness. Paul expresses this hunger for more in Philippians 3:12, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” This hunger is the antonym of complacency. Complacency is the product of pride, as if one can arrive at perfection apart from Christ. The puritan writer, Thomas Brooks, says, “A humble heart is an aspiring heart.”
  1. Humility leads to peace. When Paul commands in Philippians 4:6 to “not be anxious about anything, but… let your requests be made known to God,” he gives the promise in verse 7, “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Part of the sinfulness of anxiety is the pride of clinging to our problems as if no one else or nothing else can help. It takes humility to cast all your anxieties on God (1 Pet. 5:7). Without that humility, we will not know the peace of Christ.
  1. Humility leads to joy. Jesus humbled himself to the point of death on the cross because of the joy set before him (Phil. 2:8 and Heb. 12:2). Jesus also promises that the one who humbles himself will be exalted (Matt. 23:12). Part of this exaltation is the joy of being in the presence of God, just like Jesus’ joy set before him. Pride clings to one’s own sense of what brings joy; humility rests in the true gift of joy that only comes from knowing Christ. Jesus wants our joy to be full (John 15:11), but our pride is a roadblock to such joy.

C.S. describes this joy and relief from humility well in his chapter on pride in Mere Christianity. “God wants you to know Him: wants to give you Himself. And He and you are two things of such a kind that if you really get into any kind of touch with Him you will, in fact, be humble – delightedly humble, feeling infinite relief of having for once got rid of all the silly nonsense about your own dignity which has made you restless and unhappy all your life. He is trying to make you humble in order to make this moment possible: trying to take off a lot of silly, ugly, fancy-dress in which we have all got ourselves up and are strutting about like the little idiots we are. I wish I had got a bit further with humility myself: if I had, I could probably tell you more about the relief, the comfort, of taking the fancy-dress off – getting rid of the false self…To get even near it, even for a moment, is like a drink of cold water to a man in a desert.”

May these blessings draw you deeper into your pursuit of humility. We will consider more blessings next week.

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