It’s Hard to be Humble…
Years ago, Mac Davis had a song with these lyrics: “Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way.” Hearing that song makes me want to laugh out loud! Because guess what, you aren’t perfect. I’m not perfect. In fact we’re not even close. The greatest key to humility might be a healthy and realistic knowledge of self. It is an awareness issue. I’m not saying we shouldn’t like ourselves. But there is a huge difference between having self-confidence and looking in the mirror like Fonzie and saying, “heyyyyy.”
If you were to consider the spiritual giants of the Bible, one quality most of them shared was humility. I’m talking about people like Abraham, Noah, Moses, and others. Go through Hebrews 11 and you will find humility to be a common denominator among the majority of those who are listed there. It was their belief in God and their lack of dependence upon self that caused these great heroes of faith to do what they did. Ultimately their trust in God was demonstrated because they never took their eyes off the heavenly prize and the eternal city their Creator was preparing for them.
For me personally, as a preacher, I want to look at the life of Paul. He was an apostle. He had come from a wealthy family. He had the ability to persuade multitudes of people through his preaching and teaching and writing. But look at the way he described himself in the pages of the New Testament:
“…less than the least of all the saints” – Eph. 2:8.
“…least of all the apostles…” – 1 Cor. 15:9.
“…not worthy to be called an apostle…” – 1 Cor. 15:9.
“…a debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to wise and unwise…” – Rom. 1:14.
“…I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man…” – 1 Tim. 1:13.
“…untrained in speech…” – 2 Cor. 11:6.
“…not that we are sufficient of ourselves…” – 2 Cor. 3:5.
“…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief…” – 1 Tim. 1:15.
Paul never thought that he deserved a pulpit. He didn’t even think he was worthy to be a Christian or to be a part of the church. He was cognizant of his sin at all times. He knew that he was only saved and appointed to ministry by the grace of God. His aim was to exemplify the humility of Christ.
The song lyrics from the Mac Davis song are really not true. An important phrase has been left out. It would be better said this way – “Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble, when YOU THINK you’re perfect in every way.” Maybe humility isn’t as difficult as we make it. What we think needs to line up with reality. There was only one perfect Man. And we’re not Him. And ironically, His humility was a large part of what made Him the only qualified Man to perfect us all.
“And be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’” – 1 Peter 5:5
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AUTHOR: Jeremiah Tatum
