Tag Archives: humility

April 20, 2023 · 5:30 AM

The Promise Of Humility

Unless you’ve been to Israel, you may not know that Bethlehem is only about 6 miles south of the Old City in Jerusalem. It’s currently situated in the West Bank of Palestine and has been in existence for about 3,400 years. We know it mainly as the place of Jesus’ birth, but so much more in the Bible happened here. It is where Naomi returned with Ruth. It’s where Ruth worked in Boaz’ field until they were married. The had a son named Obed. He had a son named Jesse. Jesse’s youngest son David became the most famous king of Israel. The name of the city translates, “House of Bread”.

I find it amazing that God did so many things in this town generations beforehand to ensure that this would be the place Jesus would be born. If you think about it, Bethlehem is a story of how God exalts the humble. David wasn’t even considered by his dad as a possible candidate to be king. He was an humble shepherd. It was also the humble shepherds who were first given the news that the Messiah had been born. Even the manger was an humble place to house the King of Kings. There’s a pattern there that you and I can’t afford to miss. Humility preceded the favor of God.

In Luke 14:11 Jesus was teaching about humility when He said, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (NLT). Humility is a mindset of understanding our position as the created being who is nothing without the Creator. That knowledge should keep us hungry to have a deeper relationship with Him. It should cause us to obey whatever God asks of us knowing He will equip us and partner us with those who will help us fulfill His will for our lives and further His kingdom. Great men and women don’t just have humble beginnings, they find a way to stay humble even in success.

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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February 15, 2023 · 5:54 AM

Clothed With Humility

I’ve stayed in some of the nicest hotels you can stay in. There was one hotel where I don’t think I ever touched a door. The workers opened them every time. Being treated like royalty makes us feel good. Having people wait on you constantly can also spoil you. Have you ever been anywhere where you were treated like royalty, where everything was done for you? There’s something in our human nature that craves that kind of attention. What it doesn’t crave is being on the other side of that scenario. Being the person who does all the menial tasks for another person can be bothersome. Some of the lowest paid jobs in the world are doing what a person doesn’t want to do. Why wait on yourself or others when you can pay someone to do it? Our “wait on me” attitude is opposite of what Jesus taught us to do though.

On the night of the Last Supper in John13, the disciples were in the mindset that Jesus was about to free Israel from Rome and be set up as king. Just a few days earlier He had ridden into Jerusalem on a colt fulfilling Scripture that their king would come riding on one. They were all in good spirits as the night began, but someone forgot to hire a person to wash everyone’s feet. It was shocking to them when the Messiah and King got up from the table, put on a towel like an apron and started doing the task of the lowliest job. Peter objected profusely, but Jesus lovingly corrected him. He asked them if they understood as He affirmed their belief in Him as Messiah and King. Then in verse 15 said, “For I gave you [this as] an example, so that you should do [in turn] as I did to you” (AMP).

That moment resonated with Peter. Years later he wrote in 1 Peter 5:5, “Likewise, you younger men [of lesser rank and experience], be subject to your elders [seek their counsel]; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another [tie on the servant’s apron], for God is opposed to the proud [the disdainful, the presumptuous, and He defeats them], but He gives grace to the humble.” All of us should put on the apron on humility and serve other as Jesus did regardless of our station in life. Look around you. I’m sure there are people who need you to swallow some pride and serve. God calls us to both be humble and to serve others. Jesus gave us the example we must follow. The apron of humility makes us Christlike. Serving others opens up God’s grace into our lives. Quit looking to be served and find ways you can serve.

Photo by PNW Production:

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August 10, 2022 · 5:52 AM

Humbly Return

The importance of mentorship ne of the things I try to teach people. All of us could benefit from someone more experienced at any area of life to help us achieve growth in that area. The problem is that most of us are too proud or scared to ask someone to do it. I’ve had the privilege of working with some amazing leaders in large companies. One lady was the most approachable leader I’ve met, and she is the head of the retail side of a Fortune 15 company. She told me that people ask her all the time to mentor them. She tells them to set it up with her assistant.. She would love to be a mentor, but no one takes that next step to set up the meeting.

I love the story of the Prodigal Son. After taking his share of the inheritance, he took off to see the world and make a name for himself. If he had asked his father for wisdom, the father would have explained the importance of saving up for tough times. However, the son was living for the minute and ran out money when the famine came. After working for pig slop, he decided to humble himself and return home. He knew that at the least his father would accept him back as a servant and he would have food, shelter and money. What he wasn’t expecting was the willingness of the father to do exceedingly more than he could have imagined. His father ran to him as he got close to home. When he humbled himself and repented, he was forgiven and restored.

James 4:7-8 says, “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you” (NLT). Humility is our first step in approaching God. We must know we need Him and His help. We must be bold enough to resist the devil and his lies that would try to keep us from the Father. He’ll try to appeal to our pride and fear to keep us away. However, when we, like the Prodigal Son, head towards God, He will rush to meet us with open arms. He will forgive us, restore us and mentor us as His children. All that He has is available to us if only we would humble ourselves and seek Him.

Photo by Stephen Leonardi on Unsplash

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January 10, 2022 · 5:47 AM

Our Motivation Matters

Do you ever stop to think about who benefits from your actions? In a lot of cases, the things we do are designed to help us benefit from our actions. If we benefit from our actions, is it also fair to say, we do things to get recognition as well? Since we were babies, we have been conditioned to try to do things for applause. When you clap for a baby, their face lights up. When they start talking, they say, “Look at me,” and then they do something to try to get praise. Unfortunately, when this transitions into adulthood, it becomes something that can inflate our pride. When that happens, we begin to be controlled by what other people think.

Pride is very dangerous. Look at King Saul. He started off very humble. When Samuel found him, he referred to himself as a man from the smallest tribe and the least important family. After he became king, that humility left him and pride took its place. He made decisions that benefited himself rather than God or others. It got the the point that God was sad that he ever made Saul king. When Samuel went to Saul to break the news that God was going to take the kingdom away from him in 1 Samuel 15, Saul was setting up a monument to himself. Pride had taken over Saul’s life to the point he only cared about what God wanted when he got caught or was in a bind.

Romans 8:5 says, “Those who are motivated by the flesh only pursue what benefits themselves. But those who live by the impulses of the Holy Spirit are motivated to pursue spiritual realities” (TPT). When pride is in the driver’s seat of our life, we do things that benefit ourselves and bring us glory. 1 Peter 5:5 tells us that God is opposed to the proud. We must learn to seek God rather than the praise of men. Romans 8 draws a line between those who are Spirit minded and fleshly minded. The fruit of our lives will show which mind we have. Our motivation matters and is the difference between being humble or filled with pride.

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

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August 25, 2020 · 5:57 AM

Serving Others Better

Imagine this scene. You’re in the kitchen trying to cook dinner. You have one child asking you for help with homework. Another child is in the high chair crying wanting something to eat because they just dumped their bowl of food on the floor. The TV is on and it’s turned up loud. Your phone then starts ringing. Just then you have a friend walk in. They survey all that’s going on, give a chuckle, sit down on the couch and ask when dinner is going to be ready. Can you imagine how that would make you feel? How would that change if your friend walked in, surveyed the situation and started helping? What if they picked up the spilled dinner and started to feed the baby to stop the crying? Even though they are a guest, you would be grateful to have them jump in and help.

Unfortunately, many of us are like the friend who comes in, sees everything going on at your church and sits down. Why would you help? You’re a guest, not a staff member. You can see there are things that need to be done, but it’s not your job. You’re there to get fed. The disciples had a similar mentality on the night of the Last Supper. A couple went ahead to prepare everything while the rest showed up expecting to just eat. However, they forgot one important detail. They forgot to get someone to wash everyone’s feet. Everyone was aware of the mistake, but no one did anything. They were arguing over who was the greatest instead. It was at that time that Jesus took off his outer garment, put on an apron and grabbed a towel. He saw what needed to be done, even though He had a lot on His mind that He needed to say, He washed their feet.

Having been at that dinner, Peter wrote 1 Peter 5:5 that says, “And all of you must put on the apron of humility, to serve one another; for the scripture says, ‘God resists the proud, but shows favor to the humble’” (GNT). Peter makes no exceptions in this verse. “All of you must put on the apron of humility.” None of us are above serving or helping others at home, at church or wherever you go. People all around us need help, but we have to lose the me first mentality if we’re going to serve others like Jesus. He knew that Judas would betray Him that night, yet He washed his feet and served Him dinner anyway. That is our example of putting on the apron of humility. It’s not about us or how uncomfortable we feel. It’s about showing the love of Christ to those who least deserve it because it was shown to us when we least deserved it. We must learn to serve others better if we’re going to be more Christlike.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

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July 30, 2020 · 5:30 AM

The Apron Of Humility

Several years ago, our area was hit by Hurricane Ike. Our electricity was out for over two weeks. Because of the work I do, I had to go to work anyway to help customers. A couple of days after the storm hit, the CEO of this Fortune 15 company flew down here. Each day, he put aside his tie, put on our uniform, and got behind a computer to help customers at one of our stores. When regular customers didn’t recognize him, they’d ask who he was. When he told them, no one believed him. He had to pull out his business card to prove it. Even then, there were skeptics.

To me, that’s a lot like what Jesus did. When the world was dark and powerless, Jesus left Heaven to come to earth to help us. He put aside His Heavenly body to take on the form of a man. He walked among us to help us. Many did not recognize Him nor believe He was who He said He was. When He proved it by doing things only God could do, they were still skeptical. Even though there were doubters, He continued to do the work that He was sent to do

Philippians 2:5-8 tells us exactly that, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross” (NLT). What it says first is very important. We should have that same attitude.

We should never be above doing any work in the Kingdom. There is no position high enough or level of spiritualness that you can attain where you don’t have to get down in the trenches and serve like everyone else. Jesus was still exhibiting the qualities of a servant the night before He completed His mission on earth. He made it clear He was the Messiah, the Son of God, and yet He served others. John 13:4 says, “So He got up from the supper table, set aside His robe, and put on an apron” (MSG). He took off the robe that signified His greatness and position, to put on what the lowest ranking person wears in order to serve.

Christianity is not about becoming a great and powerful leader. It’s about becoming an humble servant. It’s following the example of the One who gave up all authority in Heaven and earth to wash the feet of others. It’s about meeting people where they are so they can see what God’s love is like. If the CEO of Heaven took off His robe to put on an apron and serve, we should put aside our pride and follow His example of serving others. Wearing the apron was an outward example of the position of His heart. If you feel you’re above putting on the apron of humility, pray that God would give you the same attitude Christ Jesus had.

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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May 12, 2020 · 6:05 AM

Becoming A Person After God’s Heart

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Fake it until you make it.” We like to act like we know something without letting everyone know we don’t know it. Most of the time it’s a pride thing where we can’t admit we don’t know something. We can pretend for a while, but the longer and farther it goes, the greater the chance we’ll be exposed. That’s why it’s important that we’re always willing to learn. It’s an act of humility to admit we don’t know something. We have to put ourselves in the care of someone else who knows more than us about something and be open to being wrong. That’s an uncomfortable position for so many people, so we’d rather fake it until we make it. The problem is that a person who isn’t willing to learn, isn’t willing to grow, and at that point, they’ve reached the peak of their growth.

When the Bible says that David was a man after God’s own heart, I believe part of that was from his ability to constantly lift God up, thereby recognizing his place. He didn’t think more of himself than he should. For the most part, he kept pride at bay and lived a life where he was dependent on God. In Psalm 23 he wrote that the Lord was his shepherd admitting he needed to be led. In so many of his psalms, he was crying out to God for help admitting his weakness. I love Psalm 86:11 though. He prayed, “Teach me more about you, how you work and how you move, so that I can walk onward in your truth until everything within me brings honor to your name” (TPT).

David understood that there’s more to God than he would ever know. He also knew that the more he knew about who God was, the more his life would bring honor to Him. He took the time to read about God so he would understand the characteristics of God through the generations, but more than that, he got to know God and wanted to know more about Him. There’s a difference in knowing about someone and knowing them. God is asking you and I to know Him and to learn from Him. He’s wanting us to draw closer to Him, and when we do, He draws closer to us. That relationship keeps us humble and turns us into people after God’s own heart. David wasn’t the only one who was supposed to have that title. God wants to give it to you as well, but you have to be willing to be led like a sheep and open to learning more about who He is and how He moves.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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November 8, 2019 · 5:51 AM

Being Humble

One of the things my son has been into for about five years is the solar system and space. As I write this, there are three different homemade solar systems on the floor of my office that he has made depicting the different sizes of the planets. Some of his favorite videos are those that line the planets up from smallest to greatest and then the start bringing in stars. It’s not long into the video before earth and then our sun are no longer visible compared to the other stars in the universe. When you put things in that perspective, it’s humbling to think about how small we truly are in comparison to God’s creation. It’s also humbling to think that a universe that size exists in Him.

If we love our lives comparing ourselves to the things we’ve done or that are around us, pride can set in. We can look at our accomplishments and think we’ve done great things. It’s when we look outward to what God has done that we realize how small our accomplishments are. All throughout the Bible God speaks to us about the importance of being humble. I think what He’s really asking us to do is to keep our eyes fixed on Him instead of ourselves. When we are looking at His greatness and our own unworthiness of His gifts to us, we find the humility He wants us to have. As we bring our own weaknesses into focus, we begin to see His all sufficient grace that empowers us to do His will. Nothing we accomplish is of our own accord. It’s all through His strength, His provision and His direction. When we look at things that way, we will stay humble.

Here are some Bible verses on being humble.

1. If you return to the Almighty [and submit and humble yourself before Him], you will be built up [and restored].

JOB 22:23 AMP

2. Be always humble, gentle, and patient. Show your love by being tolerant with one another.

Ephesians 4:2 GNT

3. Remember this: If you have a lofty opinion of yourself and seek to be honored, you will be humbled. But if you have a modest opinion of yourself and choose to humble yourself, you will be honored.

Matthew 23:12 TPT

4. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.

Matthew 5:5 NLT

5. Humble yourselves [with an attitude of repentance and insignificance] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up, He will give you purpose].

JAMES 4:10 AMP

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

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June 11, 2019 · 5:00 AM

The Promise Of Humility

Unless you’ve been to Israel, you may not know that Bethlehem is only about 6 miles south of the Old City in Jerusalem. It’s currently situated in the West Bank of Palestine and has been in existence for about 3,400 years. We know it mainly as the place of Jesus’ birth, but so much more in the Bible happened here. It is where Naomi returned with Ruth. It’s where Ruth worked in Boaz’ field until they were married. The had a son named Obed. He had a son named Jesse. Jesse’s youngest son David became the most famous king of Israel. The name of the city translates, “House of Bread”.

I find it amazing that God did so many things in this town generations beforehand to ensure that this would be the place Jesus would be born. If you think about it, Bethlehem is a story of how God exalts the humble. David wasn’t even considered by his dad as a possible candidate to be king. He was an humble shepherd. It was also the humble shepherds who were first given the news that the Messiah had been born. Even the manger was an humble place to house the King of Kings. There’s a pattern there that you and I can’t afford to miss. Humility preceded the favor of God.

In Luke 14:11 Jesus was teaching about humility when He said, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (NLT). Humility is a mindset of understanding our position as the created being who is nothing without the Creator. That knowledge should keep us hungry to have a deeper relationship with Him. It should cause us to obey whatever God asks of us knowing He will equip us and partner us with those who will help us fulfill His will for our lives and further His kingdom. Great men and women don’t just have humble beginnings, they find a way to stay humble even in success.

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June 29, 2017 · 5:00 AM

The Poor Kid At The Table

Throwback Thursday is a new feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other writing ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.


Recently, I went to lunch with several coworkers from different departments in my company. When they suggested an expensive place to eat, I hesitated at first. They said, “What’s the matter?” Then one remembered and said, “Oh yeah. Your department doesn’t budget for food like ours does.” I replied, “I have to think about dinner. I don’t want to spend all my per diem on lunch.” Someone replied, “Come on, poor kid. We’ll figure something out.”

I haven’t been the “poor boy” at the table since I was a kid. All these emotions came running back to me. I remembered what it was like as a kid to be at the mercy of whoever had invited me to eat. I was taught to see what they were thinking of ordering so I could order something less expensive. There were a lot of lessons I learned being the poor kid at the table. Lessons that helped shape who I am today.

One thing it taught me was humility. When you’re the one who is depending on someone else, you learn all about humility. You don’t get what you want, you get what they allow you to have. It’s when we can afford to get what we want that we forget about humility. We forget how to depend on someone else. We forget how to depend on God. We tell Him, “I can do this,” and we save Him for bigger things in our life. That’s usually when we start to treat Him like a genie.

God never wanted to be a genie and He doesn’t want us to save Him just for the big things in our lives. He wants us to know what it’s like to trust Him for everything. He wants us to know what it truly means to walk by faith. The problem is that walking by faith is scary after you’ve adjusted to a life of walking by sight. We can return to that place of trust if we are willing to be the poor kid at the table once again. 

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