The Walk of Humility

Attitude is everything!  Charles Swindoll wrote, “the longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past . . . we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.  And so it is with (us) . . . we are in charge of our attitudes.”

Our attitude is something we are constantly in control of in spite of our circumstances.  Our attitude is not something that someone else can manipulate or decide for us.  Our attitude determines how we respond to difficulty and hardship.  Our attitude dramatically impacts and influences others.  Our attitude drives our decisions and shapes our priorities.  What attitude did Jesus Christ possess that we are to possess as well?

READ: Philippians 2:1-11

Living life in the same way as Jesus did requires an ATTITUDE of HUMILITY!  MIND (ATTITUDE) = Chosen WAY of THINKING.  The NIV translates Philippians 2:5, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”  Jesus Christ’s attitude of humility was at the core of what made Him who He was.  Jesus’ attitude of humility was the source of His love and compassion.  Jesus’ attitude of humility was the source of His willingness to serve and sacrifice.  Without humility, Jesus would have held on to His “equality with God”, He would have never taken the “form of a servant”, He would have never been “born in the likeness of man”, and definitely would have never been obedient to “death on a cross”.  Jesus’ attitude of humility is the same attitude that we are to live our lives with!  What does it mean to have an attitude of humility like Christ?

Humility is an attitude willing to LET GO of a HIGH position (Phil. 2:6-7) – When we possess something valuable it is natural for us to act like a child in order to keep possession of it by holding onto it tightly, turning our backs, and selfishly screaming “MINE”.  The last thing we would do with something valuable to us is willingly open our hands and let it go.  In contrast, Jesus, although He possessed the valuable status of God, released His rightful “grasp” and “emptied” Himself of His high position and privilege.  Humility is a willingness to let go of any characteristic about ourselves that we might claim superiority over another person including appearance, intelligence, skill, or position.  By choosing to let go of our superiority we open a door to significantly impact others that is impossible to open in any other way.

Humility is an attitude willing to TAKE HOLD of a LOW position (Phil. 2:7-8) – In my youth group we had what was called the “Christian pencil”.  The “Christian pencil” was the pencil that no one wanted because it had no eraser, it was short and stubby, and had teeth marks all over it.  Only a super Christian was willing to take hold of that disgusting pencil.  In contrast, Jesus humbly chose to “take” the lowly position of a human being.  The word humble means, “to lower, to lay flat, to make small/insignificant, to place under.”  Humility is placing ourselves in a position that is lower, under, and below all others.  If there is one attitude that we must take hold of tightly and never let go it is the willingness to allow others in our lives to be more significant and important than us.

Humility is an attitude which is willing to DIE to SELF for the sake of others (Phil. 2:8) – It’s one thing to die of natural causes, it’s another thing to choose to die on purpose in place of someone else so that they can live.  Jesus humbly lowered Himself to the lowest place of “death on a cross”.  Jesus’ ultimate expression of humility was His willingness to be punished and die as a sinner in our place.  In a million small ways every day and, at times, in big ways, we must choose to die to our selfish desires by “count(ing) others more significant than ourselves” and by “look(ing) to the interests of others”.  Dying to self is painful, but it’s worth the sacrifice knowing that someone else’s life is better as a result.

CONCLUSION
What happens when we live with an attitude of humility?  Jesus said in Luke 14:11, “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted”.  Just as “God highly exalted (Jesus)” for His humility, we must not exalt ourselves, but rather humble ourselves and allow God to be the one to exalt us higher (Phil. 2:9)!  Do you have an attitude of pride that exalts yourself higher or an attitude of humility that places yourself lower?