Humility, The Attitude Required To Live With God

Desiring God is one of the pivots to drawing God into our life, not only in our heart, but in every space of living around us. But there is another pivot that we need to accept – humility, because without it, we will flow slowly away from God. It is so important, that God himself addressed this when he created us.

Psalm 8 speaks of the lofty love of God for humanity.

• Where God created everything for humanity
• But in comparison, he made us so insignificant looking.
• Yet he contrasted this with placing us over everything, to rule and reign over it.
• but as greatly blessed and endowed that we are, he made us a little less then the angels.
• i.e. Angels are spiritual begins completely
• The question to ask is why this limitation?
• and the answer seems to point to humility.
• Humility points to Truth and resides with Truth.
• It is the virtue which prepares us for greatness with God, drawing all other virtues to us.

The opposite to humility is pride. It is a silent infection, we do not know of its presence in our lives, and we deny its existence in ourselves. But slowly and surely like cancer it grows and starts to manifest itself. It draws all negative elements of thought and being into our lives… Finally and more importantly, we miss the point, we become the exception to rules and regulations, and we become the center of the universe, and this is the furthest point from Truth. For me Truth & Peace are names for Jesus/God. Pride taking us away from God reminds me of the prodigal Son, far away in a foreign land, eating with pigs. Only when he becomes devoid of himself (center of the universe mentality/the fall of pride), that is when he awakes to Truth, and is able to make his way back home.

Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, is the best illustration to the importance of humility. But the first action is as much and more important – Jesus’ incarnation – God bends to please humanity and becomes human. Those with pride missed how Jesus would be born, they wanted Him to be born in lofty places and with a lofty attitude. But God in Jesus was more interested in teaching us the way back to God, to retake humility, humility of who humanity is (our identity in God) – the reality of this which Adam/Eve rejected in the Garden, pushed away from their lives, and hence their children are far away from home (=God’s Presence), living a sub-human life.

Pray to the Holy Spirit, ask him to flood our lives with the grace of humility.