Humility: The Way Up
The swiftest way to promotion and lifting is humility. It is the only thing that God looks for before He takes a person to the next level. God goes by the condition of your heart. The more you allow humility to lead your life the more you will be empowered. Proverb 29:23, 18:12, Mathew 23:12
What is Humility?
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Philippians 2:3-4. (NLT)
Humility is having the right estimation of yourself and allowing this estimation to govern all your relationships (with God and others). It is how you think about yourself, rooted in the mind, express through the mouth and in your attitude.
“Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all.” Romans 12:3-5, 16 (NLT)
Estimate yourself by seeing yourself no more or less than God sees you and esteem yourself within the boundaries that God esteem you. God sees you as somebody saved by grace. You are who you are today by God’s grace and without His grace you are capable of doing nothing. You are a member of the body of Christ whom God has set to occupy a specific position and perform a specific role.. You are interdependent on those who are placed above you, those who are placed besides you and those who are placed under you. When you maintain the right estimation of yourself in humility, you will keep looking up to God to shape your life through His word and never look down on people. 1 Cor. 12:11-27, James 1:19-21.
Humility demands that you obey God without conditions; you submit to those that are placed above you without dissensions; you celebrate those that are placed besides you without contention, strife and rivalry; and you serve those that are placed under you without segregation and prejudice. 1 Peter 5:5-6
Anything that revolves around you and makes you the focus is pride. Pride shifts your focus from God to you which tend to selfishness all the time, while humility shifts the focus from you to God. The most powerful way to stay humble is to Praise God and celebrate man. Humility helps you to enjoy increase in favor with God and man; and you will also enjoy God’s preservation. Psalms 18:3