Humble Thyself

Let’s start with the back on this one shall we. I mean, we already do right? So many visions and dreams of exaltation. Lord, please lift me up. Grant me favor. Enlarge my territory. *cue all of the Christianese lingo*

I can admit as a believer that struggles with self-righteousness that I often begin here. I begin with the exaltation. I deserve to be praised and put on a pedestal. My sisters jokingly refer to me as Mary mother of Jesus. I do the very best that I can to walk in obedience to God. I attend church regularly and tithe. I sing on the praise team at my church. I am the leader of the public engagement team at my church. I help where I am needed in different ministries around the church. I have small group. I read and study the Word. I pray and sincerely seek God. I disciple and mentor. I dedicate time to put Scripture to memory. I mean…my Christian resume is looking pretty darn good am I right?

I deserve to be lifted. I deserve to be superior. Why is He using others who don’t share my accolades? God should definitely use me as His spokesperson to the masses because I am so flawless. I’m not perfect because I am a human, duh…but I’m kinda close.

SMH…I am ashamed of these thoughts, but they are real.

I have to fight against these feelings. I have to humble myself before the Lord. Ok…what does that even mean?

One of my favorite stories of the Bible is in Isaiah 6. One of the great prophets who foretold Jesus’ coming. He called out many wicked doers and phonies. He was a righteous man. Devout man. He honored God with his whole being. Perhaps there was a point of arrogance and pride that captured his heart. But in the 6th chapter, he is standing in the presence of the almighty God and in all of His perfection, Isaiah realizes that he is a man of unclean lips. He sees his sin. He sees his imperfections. He sees his flaws. In the presence of the Creator of the Universe, he was humbled.

I too have found myself in this situation. After my heart is filled with pride and self-awareness, I come in the presence of God speechless and ashamed that I would for one second believe that I was better than I am. That I somehow deserved this position above others. I deserved to be recognized with praise and glory.

The Lord’s exaltation looks different than man’s. I lived by a flawed thought: Do good works and exalt yourself, instead of allowing the Lord to be in complete control by exalting as he wishes.

So back to the beginning. Humble thyself.

In this case, I view humbleness as completely surrendering my pride and selfish ambition before the Lord. Turning over my control and allowing Him to be in control. I am choosing to recognize all of the things that the Lord has done in me and through me. I would not be who I am if it were not for the Lord protecting me and leading me.

Humbling myself means that I have to be honest with myself. I do not have it altogether. I am not close to perfection. I may to some good, but that does not make me better. I may know some Scripture, but that does not necessarily make me wiser. The truth is, without Christ, I am nothing. Therefore, I cannot praise myself. All of the praise belongs to the One who is worthy.

When you humble yourself first, and forget about the exaltation, you might find that later aspect really doesn’t matter. In the end, there’s only One that is truly worthy to be praised.

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