(This post first appeared on InspireAFire.com)
Humble people are appealing. They’re easy to work with. They’re a joy to be around. And they reflect Christ.
Unfortunately, the path to humility isn’t as appealing. At times it can be downright humiliating to be humbled, but it’s a blessing in the end.
God called Moses the most humble man on earth. But he didn’t start there.
Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.
~ Numbers 12:3 NASB
When Moses was 40, he assumed his people knew he was more than the Prince of Egypt. He was God’s chosen vessel to rescue them from slavery (Acts 7:25).
He was The Man.
Until he became The Murderer.
And then he was the man on the run.
And a man humbled by God.
He fled to the land of Midian and traded in his crown for a shepherd’s staff.
After 40 years of leading sheep, God called Moses to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land.
With a new humble heart, Moses served God and the Israelites faithfully. Yet, the humbling process wasn’t over for this “most humble man on the face of the earth.”
Every Christian Has a Choice
No matter how humble we may become, as Charles Spurgeon so eloquently put it, “Every Christian has a choice between being humble and being humbled.”
It’s a daily choice. Sometimes a minute by minute choice.
God humbled Moses, and he chose to embrace it.
And he left us a powerful example of how an imperfect person can live humbly before God after being humbled by God.
Jesus left us the perfect example.
Jesus willingly humbled Himself. He stepped down from heaven, took on the form of man, and obeyed God in everything He called Him to do.
He even allowed those He came to save to persecute Him.
And He submitted to the wrath of God for our sin through death on a cross. (Phil. 2:8).
Moses inspires us — and Jesus convicts us — to ask ourselves: What choice will I make today? To be humble or humbled?
Consider These 25 Quotes and Verses on Humility to Inspire You to Choose Well
1. “The surest mark of true conversion is humility.” ~ J. C. Ryle
2. “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” ~ C. S. Lewis
3. “For the Christian, humility is absolutely indispensable. Without it there can be no self-knowledge, no repentance, no faith and no salvation.” ~ AW Tozer
4. “Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.” ~ Saint Augustine
5. “Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call “humble” nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is a nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him.” ~ C. S. Lewis
6. Let God have your life; He can do more with it than you can. ~ Dwight L Moody.
7. The best definition of humility I ever heard was this – to think rightly of ourselves. ~ CH Spurgeon
8. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. ~ CS Lewis
9. Does God ask us to do what is beneath us? This question will never trouble us again if we consider the Lord of heaven taking a towel and washing feet. ~ Elisabeth Elliot
10. I used to think that God’s gifts were on shelves one above the other; and that the taller we grew in Christian character the easier we could reach them. I now find that God’s gifts are on shelves one beneath the other; and it is not a question of growing taller but of stooping lower; and that we have to go down, always down, to get His best gifts. ~ FB Meyer
Click HERE to read the rest of the 25 quotes on InspireAFire.com.
