Humble Yourselves
James 4:10 Humility and faith are disappearing from society, replaced by pretentious self-worship
“Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
James 4:10 NASB1995
Humility is a trait that people seem to have forgotten. That’s not surprising, since a recent Wall Street Journal/NROC poll (link to an article about it on the Powerline Blog) shows that many cultural values formerly cherished by our society have drastically fallen in popularity in the past 25 years. Religion — which in the United States usually means a Christian faith — has dropped from being very important to 62% of Americans in 1998 to a measly 39% in 2023.
Jesus personifies humility. In Philippians 2, Paul describes this trait of our Savior in detail:
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Philippians 2:3-8 NASB1995
With a little more than a third of the people in our country finding religion to be very important in their lives, is it any surprise that we see so many people focusing on themselves rather than on the fate of others? Bring people back to faith, and perhaps the self-centered “it’s all about me” attitude can transform to a more humble pattern of serving others.
The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, and as we confess, we humble ourselves before God. He gives grace to the humble, and that unmerited favor always lifts us up - exalts us! In this one short verse, James describes the duty of repentance — humbling ourselves to God through confession — and the blessing that arises from the display of humility.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Our Father in Heaven, thank You for clearly setting out what we need to do in our lives — humble ourselves before You. In Your grace, You lift us up and place us on the Rock of our salvation. Help us to resist sin in our lives, and use us to demonstrate Your goodness and grace to others. This we ask in the name of Your Son and our Savior, Jesus, AMEN.
Steve, praying for you and Barb. Hope both of your health gets better, so you can get some time away. I need both of you rested so you can keep sending powerful messages. Thank you always for sharing