Focus: Humble Yourself!

Text: Phil.2:8

"He humbled himself."

Paul is talking about Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary's Son. He says that He humbled Himself while He was here on earth. The author of Hebrews says of Christ, that He learned obedience through the things He suffered. Christ says about Himself, "I am meek and lowly in heart" (Mt.11:29). Christ was a humble man.

Let us check out the identity and status of Christ in order to fully grasp the magnitude of His humility.

John introduces Christ as the eternal Word. He says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (Jh.1:1-4,14). John describes Christ as God in human flesh, as the eternal Word, as the creator of everything that exists, and as the one in whom life originates.

Here's Micah's description of the Christ: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Mic.5:2). He is described as Israel's future ruler and one with eternal origin.

Isaiah declares concerning Him, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isa.9:6). In one of His post-resurrection appearances, Thomas encountered Him, and declared, "My Lord and my God."

Having seen a few of the descriptions of the Christ, it is clear and certain that He was no mere mortal, but God Himself. Paul tells us that Christ was God in essence, yet He humbled Himself. He was everything God, yet He humbled Himself. 

He spoke words that only God could speak, operated with the wisdom of God, exercised the authority of God, and demonstrated the infinite power of God, yet He humbled Himself. He walked in humility and integrity.

Christ related with everyone He met with dignity and humanity. He carried grace and shared it. He never looked down on anyone. He helped the needy without the air of superiority. He was never given to retaliation or showmanship. Christ owned all things, but lived like He had nothing. He lead a life of total surrender to His Father's will. Not even an iota of pride existed in Him. He never in His lifetime thought that anybody and everybody was a nobody.

Why should anyone be arrogant in this life? If a person of Christ's stature and status could humble Himself, why not us, who are beneficiaries of divine bounty? We owe to God all that we own. Everything we have, we received from God. We are absolutely nothing without God. Christ said, "Apart from me, you can do nothing."

It is either we humble ourselves or God would do it for us, and if He does, it will take the form of humiliation. God has a way of humiliating the proud. God only reserves grace for the humble. He uplifts the humble. He will cause the meek to inherit the earth. So let us humble ourselves! Let us not play god over those we think we are better than. 

The words 'humanity' and 'humility' share the same root, and it is the word 'humus.' Humility involves knowing and being yourself. It is knowing that you are nothing more than human. Humility signifies not thinking more or less of yourself; it is indeed not thinking of yourself at all. Christ declares that the meek is blessed, not the proud. The proud is doomed to falling. So let's humble ourselves!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter