When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
(Proverbs 11:2)
Humility and wisdom go hand in hand. A person cannot be wise without being humble. Like smoke and fire, the two are inseparable. If we desire to be wise, we must also desire to be humble.
Sadly, humility isn’t something celebrated in the world. I’m always slightly amused by the celebrity interviews that can be found in magazines. I noticed a common theme several years back. The gist of many of the articles is the celebrity talking about how their life was a mess, broken, difficult, etc., but now they have overcome, figured it out, found happiness, etc. The problem with this is that if the same celebrity were interviewed 5 years down the road, chances are the story would be pretty much the same, just different details. In their mind, they are always the best version of themselves.
Pride tells us to look out after ourselves, to “protect” ourselves. It tells us that we are important and that others should take notice of us and our accomplishments. It secretly takes pleasure in the failures and shortcomings of others. It is critical, judgmental, and selfish, foolishly believing we are the “smartest person in the room”.
In Philippians 2 we are given a beautiful example of what it means to be humble, the example of Christ. We are told that when we are acting in humility, we count others more significant than ourselves. Ultimately, like our Savior before us, we too must become a servant.
How much more should we humble ourselves, when Christ,
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)
We don’t see Christ demanding his rights or looking to be served. The most deserving one, who sustains the Universe by the power of his word, lays all of that down to consider others better than himself – all without notice or recognition. How humble, how beautiful, how wise is that!
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