Proverbs 22:4 (NIV)
Humility is the fear of the LORD;
its wages are riches and honor and life.
Sometimes it helps us to understand something when we reframe it as its opposite.
For instance, todays proverb:
Humility is the fear of the LORD;
its wages are riches and honor and life.
When reframed it might look like this:
Pride is the absence of the fear of the LORD;
its wages are poverty and shame and death.
The outcome here swings on the hinge of the "fear of the LORD." Proverbs has already instructed us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
If humility is the fear of the Lord and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then that makes humility the beginning of wisdom.
This raises the question: What is humility?
Humility is so often thought of as a set of behaviours that look like self-deprecation and self-abnegation. I think this is wrong. Humility is the deeply human disposition of a person who has come to know and embrace their deepest worth.
Jesus shows us what it looks like:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself... (Philippians 2:6–8a)
Or in John 13:3-5
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Do you see it there?
Humility isn't the noble decision to somehow lower yourself. It's the boldness to embrace who you most truly are as a human being, a person whose worth is not earned from a performance but given by the Creator.
- The idea of earning our worth from performance is the essence of pride.
- The idea of embracing one's worth as a gift from God is the essence of humility.
Pride enslaves me to the never-ending bondage of distinguishing myself from others by becoming something other than what I am. Because all of my energy is directed at creating a false sense of self, I am prevented from embracing my true self. Because of my need to distinguish myself from others, I can't accept them either. James warns us about bitter envy and selfish ambition, characterizing them as the signs of false wisdom and nothing less than demonic evil.
Humility frees me to not only embrace myself, but to accept others. After all, we are the same—all of us—equal. Even better, humility frees me to authentically love others because I can finally love myself. Even better, this kind of love finds its deepest springs in a love for God that flows out of God's love for us. This is why humility is wisdom. It's one of the things that most amazes me about Jesus washing his disciples' feet. John characterizes that act as Jesus showing his disciples the "full extent of his love."
Humility and the fear of the Lord are the beginning of wisdom, but the end of wisdom is the love of God and the love of one's neighbour as oneself.
PRAYER
Abba Father, you had an intention and a purpose when you created me. Because I trust you, I want to realize your intention and purpose for myself. Forgive me when my trust fails and I try to remake myself in the image of someone or something else. Come, Holy Spirit, and fix my eyes on Jesus. Teach me to behold him that I may become like him. It is in his name I pray, amen.
PROMPTS
- Why are people bent on trying to make themselves into something they aren't?
- Is my own sense of self-worth tied to my own performance or accomplishments, achievements, or lack thereof?
- What keeps me from deeply accepting and loving myself?
And how does this keep me from deeply accepting and loving others?
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