Humility Before God

Read: Psalm 25: 1-10

There could be all sorts of definitions or examples of what it means to be humble or to show humility. As I was perusing some online dictionaries, I stumbled across a definition that I hadn't thought of before. The particular resource I was looking at defined humility as "a state of deference or submission". While it doesn't exactly conjure up exciting images, I found myself drawn to this particular definition. Perhaps it is because this definition most accurately (in my opinion) portrays the posture Scripture insists human beings take before God.  Throughout Scripture, human beings are encouraged to be humble before God in one form or another. It is only through human humility, we are told, that the God-human relationship remains as God intends.

The passage from the Psalms speaks of this humility. Throughout these verses, the psalmist repeatedly takes a posture of humility before God. Phrases such as " in you I trust, O God", "show me your ways..teach me your paths", and "you are God my Savior" leap out as the psalmist's expression of humility. Perhaps the most striking phrase, to me, is when the psalmist proclaims that God "guides the humble in what is right and teaches them God's ways". What is made clear here is that an attitude or posture of humility is necessary if human beings are to learn God's ways. Only by allowing ourselves to be less and God to be more will we be able to truly learn the ways of God. Perhaps this is because those who feel they have all the answers and all they need have no need for the ways or teachings of God.

We live in a world where humility is not easily or readily embraced. We are discouraged from showing any weakness, admitting we might need help, or admitting that we do not have all the answers. How ironic is it, then, that the story of Christmas is all about humility. On one hand, we remember and celebrate the humble circumstances into which the Christ-child was born: a young, unwed mother (at least at Jesus' birth), a carpenter for an earthly father, and living in relative poverty and obscurity. But Christmas isn't just about the humbleness of Christ's birth. It is also about the humility it takes for human beings to confess that they need this gift of God above any other. We NEED Jesus. There is no way around that truth. Without Jesus, we are lost and separated from God.

Our relationship with God is dependent upon our humility. This is not because God wants to make us feel less than we are or God being some kind of bully. It is because God yearns for us to depend upon God's grace more and more. Where in your life do you need to take a step back and say to God "show me your ways and teach me your paths"? Where in life is God calling you to embrace a posture of humility, of submission and deference to God? As we embrace that posture and this idea of humility, may God show us God's ways and teach us God's paths as we are prepared even more to celebrate the coming of our Lord.