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The New Life – 17. Humility

Andrew Murray
New Life Lessons

He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:29)

One of the most dangerous enemies against which the young Christian must watch is pride or self-exaltation. There is no sin that works more cunningly and more covertly. It knows how to infiltrate everything, even our service for God and our prayers—yes, even our humility: there is nothing so small in the earthly life, nor so holy in the spiritual life, that self-exaltation does not attempt to extract nourishment from it. The Christian must therefore be on guard against it, listening to what Scripture teaches about pride and the lowliness by which it is driven out.

Man was created to partake in the glory of God. He attains this by surrendering himself to the glorification of God. The more he seeks that only the glory of God be seen in him, the more this glory rests upon him.

Man was created to partake in the glory of God. He attains this by surrendering himself to the glorification of God. The more he seeks that only the glory of God be seen in him, the more this glory rests upon him. The more he forgets and loses himself, desiring to be nothing so that God may be all and be alone glorified, the happier he shall be.

By sin, this design has been thwarted: man seeks himself and his own will. Grace has come to restore what sin has corrupted, bringing man to glory through the path of dying to himself and living solely for the glory of God. This is the humility or lowliness of which Jesus is the exemplar: He took no thought for Himself but gave Himself wholly to glorify the Father.

He who would be freed from self-exaltation must not think to achieve this merely by striving against its outward manifestations. No: pride must be driven out and kept out by humility. The Spirit of life in Christ, the Spirit of His lowliness, will work in us true humility. The primary means He will use for this end is the Word. It is by the Word that we are cleansed from sin; it is by the Word that we are sanctified and filled with the love of God.

Observe what the Word says on this matter. It speaks of God’s aversion to pride and the punishment that follows it. It offers the most glorious promises to the lowly. In nearly every Epistle, humility is commended to Christians as one of the foremost virtues. It is the feature in the image of Jesus that He seeks chiefly to imprint upon His disciples. His entire incarnation and redemption is rooted in His humiliation.

Take some of these words of God from time to time and lay them up in your heart. The tree of life yields many different kinds of seed—including the seed of the heavenly plant, lowliness. The seeds are the words of God. Carry them in your heart, and they shall grow and bear fruit.

Consider, moreover, how lovely, how fitting, and how well-pleasing to God lowliness is. As man, created for the honor of God, you find it becoming. As a sinner, deeply unworthy, you have no grounds to resist it. (Job 40:6; Isaiah 6:5; Luke 5:8) As a redeemed soul, who knows that only through the death of the natural self does the way to the new life open, you find it indispensable.

Learn from Jesus that He is gentle and humble in heart. Consider that He is your life, along with all that He has. Believe that He imparts His humility to you.

But here, as in all aspects of the life of grace, let faith be the chief thing. Believe in the power of the eternal life that works in you. Believe in the power of Jesus, who is your life. Believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in you. Do not attempt to hide your pride, to forget it, or to root it out yourself. Confess this sin, with every manifestation of it that you discern, in the sure confidence that the blood cleanses and the Spirit sanctifies.

Learn from Jesus that He is gentle and humble in heart. Consider that He is your life, along with all that He has. Believe that He imparts His humility to you. The word, “Do it unto the Lord Jesus,” means, “Be clothed with the Lord Jesus.” Be clothed with humility, so that you may also be clothed with Christ Himself. It is Christ in you who will fill you with humility.

Blessed Lord Jesus, there was never anyone among the children of men as high, as holy, and as glorious as You. And yet, never was there one so lowly and ready to deny Himself as the servant of all. O Lord, when shall we learn that humility is the grace by which we are most closely conformed to the divine glory? Teach me this, O Lord. Amen.

Notes

1. Guard against pride in all its forms. Take heed that you neither feed pride in others nor allow others to feed pride in you. Above all, take care that you do nothing to nourish pride in yourself. Let God alone receive the honor in all things. Seek to recognize and appreciate the good that He works in His children and give Him heartfelt thanks for it. Be grateful for whatever humbles you, whether it comes through friend or foe. Determine never to be overly concerned with your own honor, especially when it is withheld from you. Commit your honor to the Father and concern yourself only with His glory.

2. True humility is not faint-heartedness. Never mistake weakness or doubt for humility. True lowliness and strong faith go hand in hand. Consider the centurion who said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof,” and the woman who declared, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” These two were among the most humble and most trusting ones Jesus encountered (see Matthew 8:10; 15:28). The closer we are to God, the less we are in ourselves, but the stronger we are in Him. The more we see of God, the less we become in our own eyes, the deeper our confidence in Him. To become truly lowly, let God fill your eye and your heart. Where God is all, there is neither time nor space left for self.

References

  1. 2 Chronicles 26:5,16; 32:26,31; Isaiah 65:5; Jeremiah 7:4; 2 Corinthians 12:7
  2. Isaiah 43:7,21; John 12:28; 13:31,32; 17:1,4,5; 1 Corinthians 10:31; 2 Thessalonians 1:11,12
  3. Romans 1:21,23
  4. John 8:50; Philippians 2:7
  5. Romans 8:2; Philippians 2:5
  6. Psalm 31:24; Proverbs 26:5; Matthew 23:12; Luke 1:51; James 4:5; 1 Peter 5:5
  7. Psalm 34:19; Proverbs 11:2; Isaiah 57:15; Luke 9:48; 14:11; 18:14
  8. Romans 12:3,16; 1 Corinthians 13:4; Galatians 5:22,26; Ephesians 4:2; Philippians 2:3; Colossians 3:12
  9. Matthew 20:26,28; Luke 22:27; John 13:14,15; Philippians 2:7,8
  10. 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 4:12; James 1:21
  11. Genesis 1:27; 1 Corinthians 11:7
  12. Romans 7:18; 1 Corinthians 15:9,10; Galatians 2:20