“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering.”
Colossians 3:12 (NKJV)
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When I study, every time I encounter the word humility or the adjective humble, it somehow seems separate from lowliness. Whether it’s in Hebrew or in Greek, it has to do with literally abasing yourself and bringing yourself down (Psalm 131:1, Philippians 2:8). Sometimes it literally sounds like counting yourself as nothing (Philippians 2:3).
On the surface, it looks like a contradiction. And I wonder, how do you stay humble and still raise your head? How do you stay lowly and still speak boldly? Then I realised that everything God asks of us in terms of conduct starts from the heart. These virtues are first a posture of the heart before they ever show up in our attitude or behaviour.
We’ve created scales that measure humility on the basis of appearance or external things. “He has money, but he doesn’t even act like it, he’s humble.” “She has connections but doesn’t use them, such a humble girl.” But someone can drive a regular car, live in a regular house, and still be the proudest person in the room. And another person can have those same things and still be genuinely humble (1 Timothy 6:17). The difference is their heart posture before God and how they perceive themselves before others (Micah 6:8).
Heart Posture
So the real question becomes: how do you see yourself in your heart?
The Bible says we should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think (Romans 12:3). Notice that word think. It starts with consideration in the heart. That’s why when you’re asking the Lord to humble you, when you’re looking at this call to clothe yourself in humility (Colossians 3:12), you have to pray the prayer of the psalmist:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23–24, NKJV).
Because if your heart is not humble before Him, you cannot truly clothe yourself in humility (James 4:6). And the truth is, the only One who can truly tell if you are humble is God (1 Samuel 16:7).
Humility is not an easy garment to put on. But the Holy Spirit works in us daily, both to will and to do according to His good pleasure, if we are willing to yield. I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Still, one of the major ways God humbles us is through seasons of humiliation. Seasons where it feels like He has literally abased you. You have to learn how to stand tall again in Him.
Prayer
Lord, I want to be humble and broken before You. Teach me humility. Let my head always be bowed before You and my knees always bent in Your presence. Let me never esteem myself higher than anyone else (Romans 12:3), because the same Son You gave to die for me is the same Son You gave to die for them (John 3:16). I know the process of learning humility will be painful, so give me grace, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Shalom
