1Samuel 15:22 tells us that obedience is better than sacrifice. Our humility to the Will of God is expressed through our faith in His Word and our obedience to follow it. Jesus Christ tells us in Mark 10:15 that anyone who doesn’t humble themselves like a child to receive the Kingdom of God cannot enter it. This piece of knowledge is monumentally important for believers because we can walk around for years under an incorrect assumption about humility. We can think we’re free from pride and arrogance, but we’re not. In actuality, many of us have grown so comfortable in our mode of operating that we’ve lost the ability to discern whether we’re humble enough. This is something we must take to the altar for God’s judgement, because not doing so is causing harm to our relationship with Him and causing us to miss the blessings we desperately need.
Humility is a powerful state of being and most believers underestimate its impact and its ability to prepare us to receive a blessing. We also underestimate how catastrophic the outcomes are when we have failed to wear humility like a second skin. The Christian walk is such that we grow more humble as we continue our journey in Christ. So, we don’t reach a level in which we can say, “Aha! I’ve arrived!” Humility towards the Father in Christ deepens with maturity. The older and more spiritually mature we become, the more we understand the breath and width of what God requires of us.
It is important for us to realize that God doesn’t need us to obey His Will; He wants us to. He has designed everything in the universe to respond and cooperate with His Will, but He has given us the free-will to choose it for ourselves. There are millions upon millions of people that think they are operating in God’s Will, but they are actually operating outside of it. We must not misunderstand the heft of this statement. One of the reasons that Heavenly Father has allowed the predicament we’re facing today is because of the overwhelming number of believers and unbelievers that are inflexible and have refused to change. His Will goes forth whether we decide to follow it or not, but the end result of not following it is a life far beneath our privilege.
In 2Chronicles 7:14, He said “If my people that are called by My name will humble themselves, pray, seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear them from heaven, and I will forgive their sins and restore their land.” Note that Heavenly Father is speaking specifically to His people, because they were the ones that had refused to obey His commandments. They refused to be humble and flexible to His Will. They wouldn’t seek His face and they were engaged in wicked practices. This is the people of God we’re talking about here. And we can see without question that what He said thousands of years ago is still very relevant today. People have continued to worship the creation and not the Creator. They have chosen a path that does not lead to Godliness and spiritual maturity in Christ, and they have neglected their purpose and call within the Will of God. This inflexibility has hurt us incredibly, but all is not lost. We can wake up and correct this, and now is the time to do it.
Proverbs 19:21 tells us that we can make many plans, but God’s purposes will prevail. God’s purposes are above our plans. He’s first, forever and always. How do we know we’re in His Will and purpose? Well, one of the ways that we know we’re veering off the path of God’s purpose and beginning to operate outside His Will is through hiccups, missteps, and chaos. Heavenly Father tells us in 1Corinthians 14:33 that He is not the author of confusion and chaos; He’s a God of peace. By this, You and I can know unequivocally that when the answers to certain prayers are prolonged and we’re experiencing hit after hit, we can’t always blame it on the devil’s tricks. Sometimes, we’re out of alignment with God’s Will.
Having a mind-and-heart-set that always and consistently presents the reality that there is more for us to see and do within ourselves is part of what it means to be humble before God. We are commissioned and commanded by Jesus Christ to produce fruit. This means that we are to share the good news about the salvation he offers with as many people as possible. This is our purpose, yet so many of us do everything but this. Sharing the Gospel isn’t just for those with titles; every believer has this call upon their lives. No one person is more special than the other in God’s eyes. He sees us all the same.
This is a season where we want to be asking Heavenly Father questions that are essential to us getting it right with humility and the honor that He deserves. We want to begin everything we do in our daily walk with an attitude that conveys we are fully, in every way, submitting to Heavenly Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. We desperately need Him to give us a clean heart and to renew a right spirit within us so that our worship and praise brings Him glory. We don’t want there to be a hint of anything that doesn’t please Him. And if there is, He’ll help us get it right, but we must yield to the authority of Christ, and let humility before God saturate everything we do. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“Getting It Right with Humility” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.