7 Benefits of Humility

Humility is a subject that will cause us to live close to Jesus. Humility is so important that even God takes note when someone walks in it. Numbers 12:3 says “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” Humility attracts him. 

How Do We Get Humility? 

You humble yourself. Three times it is recorded in the gospels, “Whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (Mathew 23:12; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14). So ask Holy Spirit, “please show me where I am exalting myself. Because I want to attract you not repel you.”

Humility does not come naturally to us. As we grow up, we find that pride is ingrained in our very being as we seek to prove to the world that our lives matter. We want to stand out in the crowd. Very few of us want to be completely out of the limelight with a sense that his or her life is not important. 

What is Humility? 

Humility is seeking God’s mindset and His view of life. Humility is recognition that we have strengths and gifts but that the source comes from God. Humility is choosing his way over our way.

Humility is Thinking About Yourself Correctly

Humility is not weakness, quietness, self deprecation, self denial, personality type, poverty, or acting humble. Humility is rightly thinking about yourself under God’s insight. Romans 12:3 says, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” You are to think of yourself as high, just not more highly than you should or lower than you should. There is a right way to think about ourselves. As we push in and ask God, he will help us to see ourselves clearly. This will be the same picture he sees of ourselves. This will be a picture of the future you are walking towards.

Ask God to show you where you’re at, personally, ministry, and work. This is sober judgment. The Bible says to judge yourself. But Holy Spirit will help you. This is the grace he has given to you, to accurately judge where you are, where you are to go, what you’ve done. It is a gift. He wants you to accurately understand yourself. You will then be able to judge yourself correctly, not too high and not too low.

One area that causes us to think more highly of ourselves is our posting on social media and “branding ourselves.” This can create a false image if we’re not careful, that will be hard to live up to. We often do this wanting to attract or impress others. Be careful about posting or saying things that cause you to look better than the way you usually live. Let God promote you, and you will never have to live up to a standard you or the world has set up for you. Just say no to your ego.

Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” It takes humility to live out this verse. God gives you a level of faith to do and accomplish certain things. He will show you what that level is. That is a part of the accurate judgment he will give you if you ask. Don’t try to be more than he’s giving you faith to do or say more than he has given you faith to say. This is how you keep from self conceit. Self conceit is where you decide what you’re to do and to say.

Humility is All About Character

James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves in the Lord’s presence. Then he will give you a high position.” Humility is really about developing your character. It is one of the most important aspects of godly character. God emphasizes it more than any other character trait in the Scriptures, except love. It is the most underrated trait but perhaps the greatest indicator of how far a person will go in life. Humility is a Kingdom Characteristic – it is the opposite of pride – a demonic Characteristic. When we walk in humility we walk in the kingdom way. When we walk in pride we walk in the demonic way. Ask Holy Spirit to develop your character.

Humility is Pursued

Humility is a choice that we first make and then pursue. So what are we to do? How does true humility become a reality? You cannot flip a switch and become humble. It has to be cultivated daily. There is a key phrase in the Bible that gives insight into our responsibility. It is the phrase “humble yourself.” One of the first things to do is don’t promote yourself. Humility is seeing how empty self promotion is. Humility is letting God get glory and not taking it ourselves. 1 Peter 5:5 “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility”

Humility, is not something that modern people value or pursue. It is natural to be skeptical when you hear the phrase, “The power of a humble life.” But it is true. Matthew 23:12 says, “Whoever honors himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be honored” (GWT). 

Here are going to go over 7 honors or benefits of humbling yourself. 

Benefit # 1 – Strength and Confidence

Psalms 10:17 says, “Oh, Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble. You will strengthen their heart. You will incline Your ear.” Strength is found in the humble life. The humble don’t make decisions by sticking their fingers in the air to see what other people think. They enjoy a fortitude and an inner strength that comes only through God’s grace. They know who they are. Their lives are not consumed by trying to please and impress others. Definitely worth humbling yourself for!

So let’s remember what is humility? Humility is obeying God no matter what. It shows that you are putting yourself under his rule. When you do this, it reveals you are seeking God’s mindset and His view of life. Humility is recognition that we have strengths and gifts but that the source comes from God.

As we submit to God’s will, you will find yourself developing tremendous confidence. Not in yourself, but in God working on your behalf as you submit your will to His. The greatest people are humble. But most of the world will say they are self absorbed and arrogant. People often don’t know the difference between arrogance and confidence. This is because they are not confident in God, insecure as a result, and don’t know the strength that comes from walking humbly with God. The opposite of arrogance is a relaxed self-confident person. People who are truly secure know that the God who gave, can give again. They are not arrogant, because at the end of each day they give thanks and honor for their life to God. Confidence is good! It doesn’t sound like humility, but it is!

Benefit # 2 – God is with You 

Isaiah 57:15b says, “I live in a high and holy place. But I am WITH THOSE who are crushed and humble. I will renew the spirit of those who are humble and the courage of those who are crushed.” God walks with those who obey him – who humble themselves. When he walks with you, you are renewed and you receive courage!

Benefit # 3 – Grace

Proverbs 3:34 says, “When he mocks the mockers, he is gracious to humble people.” The most common definition used in the Bible for grace is the unmerited favor of God. But in the New Testament, the word “grace” is most commonly applied to living this life with God’s power—a divine enablement. Through grace, God enables us to do that which we cannot do ourselves. Grace is incredibly significant. God gives His strength and power only to the humble through grace. Under no other circumstances does He ever promise to give His grace, only to the humble. This is a significant promise. Humble yourself, you will not regret it.

Benefit # 4 – Promotion

Luke 14:11 talks about this, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Exalt in this verse means to lift up. True promotion comes not from promoting yourself, but letting God promote you. He is willing to share all good with us, if we will give Him the credit, and do it in His timing. You can trust God to do right by you. When he lifts you up, you will realize it is because of him. This completes the circle of humility as you focus back on him.

Benefit # 5 – Wisdom

Proverbs 11:2 says, “Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” (NLT). Knowledge equals facts. Understanding equals how the facts work. Wisdom equals how to use the facts to benefit others and yourself. We want to be wise not just full of information. As you live close to the Father, he will give you knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. It is his wisdom that he will transmit to you. You will start seeing patterns and understand how things walk. You will start to think and walk like him. You will be come wise.

The reason humility produces wisdom is because of 2 reasons. 

Reason 1 – You are willing to pursue knowledge. You know you haven’t arrived. Proud men rarely seek knowledge. Do you realize that the world is constantly changing? The humble man realizes this and makes himself constantly change with it.

Reason 2 – You are willing to respond to correction, from God and others. This has got to be one of the ultimate tests of how much pride is in your life. If I come up to you and correct you, and you know it is right, how do you respond? Do you welcome my correction or do you despise it? Proverbs 29:11 says, “Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery.” Humility says I don’t know it all and welcomes correction!

Benefit # 6 – Honor

Proverbs 29:23 says, “Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.” This is a biblical principle that applies to all of life not just in spiritual things. I have seen over and over how the proud exalt themselves and work there way up the ladder by whatever method they can use. It always catches up to them sooner or later. But the word honor in the Hebrew (Strongs Concordance) means, “abundance, riches, splendor, glory, dignity, reputation, and reverence.” You will receive all of these things as you humble yourself without using the wrong methods to get them. You are simply living close to Jesus.

Benefit # 7 – Great Deeds 

Matthew 19:26 says, “Jesus looked at them intently and said, ‘Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.'” (NLT). Humility produces great strength, enabling you to do great things, because we have learned to flow with the strength of God. Being in God’s presence propels you to do extraordinary events. The world will often call you arrogant. But it is actually faith. It is confidence because you realize it is not your idea. You aren’t making it happen. You may not even want to do it, and you realize unless God shows up it is going to be an utter failure. But in humility you have walked with God and know that he is with you.

Closing

Humility is obeying God no matter what. It shows that you are putting yourself under his rule. When you do this, it reveals you are seeking God’s mindset and His view of life. Humility is recognition that we have strengths and gifts but that the source comes from God. So humble yourself today, right now, it is more than worth it!