Week 12 – Monday – Accurate Humility

Go read Philippians 3:12-14
<> What two startling things does Paul say in vs. 12 and vs. 13? (Or maybe, what startling does Paul say in two different ways – once in vs. 12 and once in vs. 13?)
<> How does it make you feel that Paul considers himself and says, “not that I have already obtained all this?”

Humility and the Gospel
There are two main thoughts that I hear about humility. The first goes something like this: Jesus hates the proud and wants you to be humble. Here’s how you can be humble – think less of yourself and think more of other people. Treat other people like they are awesome. Be humble.

I don’t think this idea is very far off – but I also don’t think it’s completely accurate. There are two reasons why. 1.) This thought process makes humility out to be something you have to conjure up – you have to try really hard to force it whether it’s accurate or not. 2.) According to the gospel, people really aren’t that awesome – Jesus is.

The second thought on humility goes like this. God is awesome. You are not. God wants to know you and when you meet Him, He humbles you. You cannot actually be in the presence of the God of the universe without coming to understand how small you are. Your humility is the natural process of living in light of this truth.

<> Is humility a defining attribute of your life?
<> Is your humility a tried for and fought for effort of piety, or is it the natural reaction to a proper view of God and hanging out intimately with Jesus?

Accurate Humility
I think Paul’s humility matches the second option. Paul who knew met Christ supernaturally on the road to Damascus, converted from militant oppressor of the church to passionate missionary and wrote more than half of the new testament, learned one main thing from hanging out with Jesus: Paul hadn’t arrived yet.

I loved how Dustin talked about how blown away we would be if Tiger Woods said he hadn’t really made it yet in terms of golf. You can also take the analogy and swing it another direction. If Tiger invited you to come learn how to play golf with him as your one-on-one mentor – you could learn from him for years and still know that you were not as good as him. The greatness of the master determines the humility of his followers. If we are honestly spending quality time with the Creator, Sustainer, Savior and Hope of the Universe, then our humility has to be growing.

Let me make this plain: If humility is not growing in your life, then you are not spending adequate time with the one true living God.

<> Does the humility of your life indicate that you are growing steadily and relationally with God?

The amount that you live your life in humility will tell the world how majestic you believe God is. This is why it is extremely necessary that we preach the gospel to ourselves daily. Every time we reset the center of our lives on the hope of gospel – Jesus will chip away more of our foolish pride and replace with accurate humility – the accurate humility that says I had nothing to offer and He offered me everything.