Meditations On Humility

Barbara Francis, one of the national leaders of the ministry I work for, recently sent out a prayer exercise on humility to our staff. God has used it in my life significantly over the past couple of weeks. I asked her permission to share it with you, in the hopes that it will bless some of you as it has me. May God be glorified!

"The pursuit of humility cannot be a solitary endeavor. That’s why the next practice—Invite and pursue correction—has a prominent and vital place on my list of ways to mortify pride and cultivate humility. Pride not only destroys; it deceives. Sin in its deceptive power so often blinds us, leaving us unaware of flaws that others notice clearly … Talk to others close to you and ask them questions like these: Do I confess my sin consistently? Do I confess specific instances and not just general categories or general references to sin? Do others find it easy to correct me? Do others know the areas of temptation in my life at present? Do they know the most pronounced patterns of sin in my life at present?" -C.J. Mahaney

Growing up in a home where criticism and needless cutting remarks were the norm, I am not good at inviting and pursuing correction. I am too easily hurt and even offended when approached by helpful comments given to accelerate my growth in Christ-likeness. While the sweet presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit has helped me grow in this area, I still have a long way to go.

I suspect we all do.

Quite simply, inviting another person to enter into our lives in such a delicate way requires a character quality that is pristine in the eyes of our Father and maligned in the eyes of the world: humility.

Listen to a few ways humility is referred to in God’s word:

-Isaiah 66:2: “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”

-I Peter 5:6: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

My personal applications are in prayer. I want God’s best for me. I want to live a life that brings him pleasure because humility is an ever growing quality.

My external applications are with a few close friends and dearest loved ones. I plan on asking the questions posed at the top: Where am I blind to pride’s corrosive influence?

Below are additional scriptures to pray into our lives so humility can grow. Read one a day for a week and ask the Spirit to kindly yet specifically point out where development has occurred and where more needs to happen.

Meditate on one verse a day. Put it on a 3x5 card, journal about it each day asking, like the boy Samuel, “Speak, Lord, for you servant is listening” (I Samuel 3:9). And then tell a close friend what you are learning about humility. Consider asking them to pray for you in this area.

Monday:
Jesus described himself in a way that I am praying into my life, “I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29). What would that look like in your life?

Tuesday:
“My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me” (Psalm 131:1-2).

Wednesday:
“Once more the humble will rejoice in the Lord; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 29:19).

Thursday:
“The Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar” (Psalm 138:6).

Friday:
“He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30).

Saturday:
“For this is what the high and lofty One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite’” (Isaiah 57:15).

Sunday:
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Timothy 1:15-17).

If you’d like to read more of Barbara Francis, check out her new blog here. She has also recently published her second book, Grace and Guts: What It Takes To Forgive. You can order it through Amazon.com here.