1997-10-19 - Humility

Pride is the origin of all sin. God hates pride. The opposite of pride is humility. God has much to say about humility in the Bible. Humility has an interesting characteristic, once you think you have humility you lose it. : ) When we first became Christians we humbled ourselves before God by saying, "Lord, I have tried and failed, I cannot save myself, I need a Savior and only Jesus Christ can save me." So many of us after we are saved started developing pride again and the worst is spiritual pride. Its like we are saying, "OK God, thanks for saving me, I can take it from here." Better think again. Let's look at God's word.

All verses today are from the NCV, The New Century Version, (Dallas, Texas: Word Publishing)

Numbers 12:3 (Now Moses was very humble. He was the least proud person on earth.)

2 Samuel 22:28 You save the humble, but you bring down those who are proud.

2 Chronicles 33:23 Amon did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh had done. Instead, Amon sinned even more.

Job 5:11 He makes the humble person important and lifts the sad to places of safety.

Psalms 18:27 You save the humble, but you bring down those who are proud.

Psalms 25:9 He shows those who are humble how to do right, and he teaches them his ways.

Psalms 138:6 Though the LORD is supreme, he takes care of those who are humble, but he stays away from the proud.

Psalms 147:6 The LORD defends the humble, but he throws the wicked to the ground.

Proverbs 15:33 Respect for the LORD will teach you wisdom. If you want to be honored, you must be humble.

Proverbs 18:12 Proud people will be ruined, but the humble will be honored.

Matthew 5:5 Those who are humble are happy, because the earth will belong to them.

Matthew 11:29 Accept my teachings and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives.

Matthew 18:4 The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven is the one who makes himself humble like this child.

Matthew 23:12 Whoever makes himself great will be made humble. Whoever makes himself humble will be made great.

Ephesians 4:2 Always be humble, gentle, and patient, accepting each other in love.

Phillipians 2:3 When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves.

James 4:6 But God gives us even more grace, as the Scripture says, "God is against the proud, but he gives grace to the humble." Proverbs 3:34

1 Peter 5:6 Be humble under God's powerful hand so he will lift you up when the right time comes.

Father, humble us. Rid us of pride. Bring us back to the humility we had when we first accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Forgive us and cleanse us of our prideful sins. We ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
David