Humility

Living in Agreement with What God Says About You

Humility has been twisted and distorted by religion for so long that most people don’t even recognize it when they see it. The religious spirit has conditioned people to believe that humility means thinking less of yourself, walking around with your head down, and calling yourself unworthy. But that’s not humility. That’s self-rejection disguised as righteousness. True humility isn’t thinking lowly of yourself. It’s not self-hatred or false modesty. Humility is living in full agreement with what God says about you, no matter how high or how low that might feel to your flesh.

Jesus is the perfect picture of humility. Philippians 2 tells us that He humbled Himself by taking the form of a servant and becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Notice that Jesus’ humility wasn’t about diminishing His identity. It was about surrendering it in obedience to the Father. He didn’t stop being the Son of God when He humbled Himself. He didn’t deny His divinity. He knew exactly who He was, and from that place of security, He was able to lay Himself down for the sake of others. That’s true humility. Knowing exactly who you are and willingly submitting yourself to the will of the Father.

Humility is not about shrinking back or making yourself small. It’s not refusing to walk in authority because you’re afraid of looking prideful. That’s false humility, which is really just pride wearing a different mask. Pride isn’t just thinking too highly of yourself. It’s also thinking too lowly of yourself because both are rooted in self. Pride says, “I’m better than God’s word about me.” False humility says, “I’m less than God’s word about me.” True humility says, “I am exactly what God says I am, nothing more, nothing less.”

Look at Moses at the burning bush. When God called him to deliver Israel, Moses said, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” God didn’t argue with Moses’ assessment of himself. He didn’t try to build up Moses’ self-esteem. He simply said, “I will be with you.” In other words, your identity is not up for debate. God called Moses a deliverer, so Moses was a deliverer. His feelings didn’t change the truth of God’s word. True humility would have been Moses standing up and saying, “Yes, Lord,” even if he didn’t feel qualified.

False humility is when you let your feelings define your identity instead of God’s word. If God calls you a son, you don’t get to call yourself a slave. If He calls you righteous, you don’t get to call yourself unworthy. If He calls you seated in heavenly places with Christ, you don’t get to crawl on the floor begging for crumbs. False humility rejects what God says under the guise of self-denial. But it’s not self-denial. It’s unbelief.

David is another example of humility. When Samuel anointed him king, David didn’t run to the palace and demand his crown. He went back to the field and kept tending sheep until the appointed time. But when Goliath showed up, David didn’t hesitate. He didn’t say, “Who am I to face a giant?” He didn’t shrink back because of false humility. He stood before Goliath and said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” David’s confidence wasn’t in himself. It was in who God said he was. That’s humility.

David knew he was anointed to be king. He knew he carried God’s authority. But he didn’t use that authority to serve himself. He used it to serve the purposes of God. That’s why he could stand confidently before Goliath and say, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” David wasn’t arrogant. He was confident in God’s word over his life. That’s humility. Full agreement with what God says, no matter how big it makes you look.

Jesus walked in perfect humility. He knew exactly who He was. He didn’t walk around with a diminished sense of self. He knew He was the Son of God, and He didn’t apologize for it. But He used that authority to serve, not to dominate. In John 13, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. He stripped down, knelt before them, and cleaned the dirt from their feet. The King of Glory knelt like a servant. Why? Because humility isn’t about position. It’s about posture.

Jesus didn’t wash their feet because He was uncertain about His identity. He washed their feet because He was secure in His identity. John 13:3 says, “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God; so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist.” He knew who He was, so He could serve without insecurity. That’s humility.

False humility would have looked like Peter at that same meal. When Jesus came to wash his feet, Peter resisted. “You shall never wash my feet,” Peter said. Peter thought he was being humble by refusing the honor, but Jesus corrected him: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.” Peter’s false humility was rooted in pride. He was trying to define the terms of his relationship with Jesus instead of receiving what Jesus was offering. That’s what false humility does. It resists God’s gift because it doesn’t feel worthy. But true humility receives the gift with open hands, knowing that it’s not about worthiness. It’s about obedience.

Humility is about alignment. It’s not about thinking lowly of yourself. It’s about thinking rightly of yourself. Romans 12:3 says, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the faith God has distributed to each of you.” Sober judgment is not self-hatred. It’s clear vision. It’s seeing yourself exactly as God sees you.

God calls you His beloved. He calls you chosen, royal, holy, and set apart. He calls you His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. He calls you seated with Christ in heavenly places. True humility is agreeing with all of that without adding or subtracting anything.

False humility says, “I’m not good enough.” True humility says, “I’m not good enough on my own, but in Christ, I am more than enough.” False humility says, “I can’t do this.” True humility says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” False humility says, “I’m nothing.” True humility says, “Without Him, I’m nothing, but I’m not without Him.”

Pride and false humility are two sides of the same coin. They both reject God’s truth about who you are. Humility is standing exactly where God has placed you with authority and confidence but using it for His glory, not your own. That’s why Jesus could walk in authority without pride and wash feet without insecurity. He wasn’t trying to prove anything. He knew who He was.

God didn’t call you to be a worm. He called you to be a son. He didn’t call you to live under the weight of shame. He called you to sit at His table. Humility is accepting the seat He gave you without apology. It’s not striving to sit at the head of the table. It’s not trying to slip under the table. It’s taking your place because He invited you there. That’s true humility. Living in full agreement with the identity He gave you. Anything less is unbelief.

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