In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 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 by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5–11 NIV)
Humility is a much misunderstood character trait. There are those who think that being humble means to adopt an attitude where we choose to become a doormat for everyone else to walk over. Or perhaps we think humility means we can’t accept praise for an accomplishment. Worse still, there are those who think that self-denigrating comments are a sign of authentic humility. In fact, a grovelling approach to life, where we are eager to put ourselves down (strangely, sometimes in the hope that others will build us up in response) is not true humility.
Humility is about the way we approach others, as well as the way we view ourselves. Humility calls us to realise that we are not the centre of the universe; as we are liberated to humbly consider others, we can delight in their strengths, rather than be depressed by forever staring at the horizon of self.
Servanthood is not just a matter of disposition, but comes as the result of good and godly choices. Sometimes we can excuse ourselves by saying that meekness is not who we naturally are; but Jesus, who had ‘all authority’, determined to put the needs of the world before His own comfort. He made himself nothing. Servanthood is not about acting with false humility, or snivelling that we are useless and of no worth. Rather, being a servant is about taking a daily choice to place the needs of others before our own. One of the challenges, of course, is that you only find out if you are truly a servant when people treat you like one: not so comfortable. But what a contrast we will show when we refuse to live the ‘grabbing’ life, and let go of that in order to bring blessing to others.
So…
· Humility is the opposite of self-obsession: do we listen to others?
· Spirituality without humility tends to be destructive: do we think of ourselves as better than others?
· What about our tone: do we go to the world as servants, gently, or with a rant?
· What do we ‘grasp’ or ‘grab’ that we need to let go of, in order to serve?