What does it mean to be humble? What is the definition of humbleness? When are you a humble person according to the Bible? The image that most Christians have about Biblical humility (humbleness) and what a humble Christian should look like is often not in agreement with the Bible; the Word of God and how God defines a humble person. As soon as a born again believer arises, who walks after the Spirit in the truth of God’s Word and walks after the will of God and doesn’t compromise with the world and doesn’t please people, but preaches the message of repentance and the remissions of sins (Luke 24:47) and isn’t afraid to stand up and speak the truth of God and confront believers with their evil works, so that they will repent and turn to God, then often times the born again believer is considered disrespectful, rude, unloving, senseless, unchristian and sometimes even discriminating. No, in the eyes of most Christians the born again believer is not humble at all, but is full of pride.
What does it mean to be humble?
According to many people, a humble Christian is a person, who is sweet, modest, solitary, helpful, does charity work, builds bridges and compromises in order to keep the peace and unity, lives according to the will of people, and submit to them. The person is a flip-flopper, who uses flattering words to please people and to keep everyone a friend and doesn’t confront anyone, but instead allows and tolerate everything (including those things, which go against the Word of God), because everyone is and stays a sinner and therefore you may not judge or condemn someone else’s works.
But is that true? Does humbleness mean, that you should allow, tolerate, and accept everything, including sin, and be a flip-flopper? Does humbleness mean, that you should compromise with the world, including strange religions and human philosophies, in order to keep the peace and create a (false) unity?
The false humility of carnal Christians
False humility occurs more among Christians than one thinks. Did you know, that the most humble persons are often the most prideful persons? Because every person, who speaks and lives after the will of the carnal mind, which is formed by the wisdom and knowledge of the world and doesn’t yield to the will of God, is according to the Word prideful. Because the person exalts himself/herself above God and His Word.
That’s why, a person may look humble before the eyes of people, by doing charity works, yielding to people, pleasing people by saying what they want to hear, being a flip-flopper, approving and tolerating everything, but as long as a person doesn’t want to listen and submit to God, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, then the person is full of pride and walks in false humility.
The humility of born again Christians
True humility means yielding to God, Jesus (the Word), and the Holy Spirit, and living after His will. Humbleness doesn’t have anything to do with a visible pious attitude and by keeping all kinds of religious rules in the presence of others, but it has everything to do with obedience to God and His will.
A humble believer loves God above all and yields to the Word, by doing what the Word says to do. A humble believer is not only someone, who listens to the Word but is by the renewing of the mind a doer of the Word and therefore walks as the new creation by faith.
The believer believes in the Word and is obedient to the Word and does what the Word says, and doesn’t deviate from the Word. Because the believer loves the Word and yields to God and His rulership instead of yielding to the world.
God resists the proud but gives grace unto the humble
Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:6-7)
God will give grace to those, who listen to Him and do what He tells to do and yield to Him and His Word. This means, that those, who live according to the will of God are redeemed and saved and receive eternal life. They will not walk after the will of the devil and sin, but resist the temptations of the devil, by walking after God’s will. But you have to become born again first.
Because the character of the devil, including pride, is present in the flesh, and therefore the flesh must first die, before the spirit can be raised from the dead and a person can walk in humbleness after God’s will
The flesh is rebellious and resists everything, that is written in the Bible. The flesh doesn’t want to yield to God and His will and Word, and therefore it is impossible to stay carnal and live after the flesh, and doing God’s will and please Him (Romans 8:5-8).
Because a carnal believer, who walks after the flesh is led by the flesh and walks after the will of the flesh and the carnal mind, and therefore walks after what (s)he wants, perceives, feels and the flesh commands to do.
Therefore, everyone, who walks after the flesh is prideful. Because those, who are carnal and led by their flesh are led by their own will, feelings, emotions, perceptions, opinion, and findings and rely on their own feelings, ability, carnal mind, wisdom, and knowledge and don’t submit to the Word, since the Word goes against their will, feelings, emotions, opinions, carnal mind, wisdom, and knowledge.
A Christian, who walks after the flesh exalts him/herself above God because (s)he thinks that (s)he knows it all better and can do it all better, and therefore rejects through his or her own words and works, God and His Word.
That’s why, so many believers keep living in sin and stay rebellious and refuse to submit to God and put away the sins from their lives, because they love their flesh more than they love God. They don’t care about the Word and are not willing to yield to God’s will and therefore many are puffed up in their carnal minds and walk in pride and exalt themselves above God and His wisdom.
The pride of the devil led to his fall and therefore the pride, which is present in the lives of his sons; the sinners, who belong to the fallen generation, will also lead to their fall, namely the second death. Because they have rejected God and His will and Word, and instead followed and honored their father the devil on this earth, by living after his will in sins, therefore they shall also be rejected by God and get the same reward as their father.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
