Humility
James the Just, one of Jesus’ brothers, said: “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”[1]
In Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapters five through seven, he said: “Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth.”[2] The word translated as “gentle” can also mean “humble” or “meek.”
King Solomon, who was the wealthiest, wisest, and most powerful king the Israelites ever had, said:
A person’s pride will bring him low,
But a humble spirit will obtain honor.[3]
The constant refrain in both the Old and New Testaments is that God wants us to be humble rather than proud. Pride—as in conceit or arrogance—drives us away from God by convincing us that we don’t need him, that we are just fine without him. Pride led to the fall of Adam and Eve, because they wanted to “become like God.”[4]
Humility—recognizing our own weakness, flaws, and wrongdoing—drives us to God, to seek his protection, his forgiveness, his mercy, and his grace.
If you wanted to find a person who exemplified humility, you could not do better than Bernadette of Lourdes. She was poor, ignorant, and sickly. Many people thought she was stupid—and she didn’t disagree. She grew up in nineteenth century France, never married, and died at an early age.
Yet God exalted her in 1858 by giving her eighteen visions of a “Beautiful Lady,” who is believed to have been Mary, the mother of Jesus. In the course of those visions, Bernadette was led to discover a previously unknown spring, to which a number of miraculous healings have been attributed. A church and a shrine have been built around the grotto where she experienced her visions, and it has been a place of pilgrimage for Christians (especially Roman Catholics) ever since.
Yet despite the attention she received from all over France and beyond, Bernadette remained the humble young lady she had always been until her tragic early death at the age of only thirty-five.
I talk about Bernadette and many other faithful Christians in my next book (working title: Devoted to Christ) which I expect to self-publish later this year.
[1]. James 4:10
[2]. Matthew 5:5
[3]. Proverbs 29:23
[4]. Genesis 3:5
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