“Dress-Up”
The Clothing of Humility
You may have heard the phrase “Dress for Success”. THE CHRISTIAN’S “Dress for Success” WARDROBE “As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, HUMILITY, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful… 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” -Colossians 3:12-17 One of the first things that you may notice when you look at someone is what they are wearing. Unless you are a nudist or a member of the Garden of Eden Club (Ha Ha… before the Fall of Adam & Eden of course), you will wear some kind of clothing every day. Whether it is for protection, warmth, practicality or fashion, clothing is always important in every culture. It is a fact that clothing and fashion is a multibillion-dollar business. Part of the reason is that fashion is designed to become “unfashionable”. In addition to inexpensive clothing designed to physically wear out, trendy clothing is made to eventually “Go out of Style” or “Go out of fashion”. To keep up with the trends, one will need to buy new clothes from time to time. HUMILITY LOOKS GOOD ON YOU When we look at Colossians 3 above, we see clothing that is timeless. It never goes out of style and is never out of season. And it is freely available to everyone. God says “Humility” looks good on everyone, however, it is an article of clothing that you may think looks better on others than yourself. How has the Devil tempted you to think that “Humility” look good on you or benefit you? Many people think that Humility is a sign of softness or weakness. I assure you that it is not. THE WORLD’S “TOP MODEL” God praised “Humility” and Jesus exemplified it. Jesus wore it well. If we think of Jesus as a runway model in Jerusalem, he would have modeled “Humility” perfectly on the runway from Bethlehem all the way to the Cross. He is the World’s “Top Model”. HUMILITY LIFTS YOU “UP” IN THE RIGHT WAY “In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, CLOTHE yourselves with HUMILITY toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” [Proverbs 3:34] 6 HUMBLE yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. [It takes humility to admit that you need help before you “cast” them anywhere much less God] 8 Be alert and of sober mind. [Humbly realistic] Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, [Notice that it doesn’t say stand firm in your own strength. ] because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. [Pride does not want us to admit that we have problems for fear that others might think we are weak. But this verse says that “the family of believers” all will experience suffering.] 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” -1 Peter 5:5-11 “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” -Ephesians 4:2 BEING HUMBLE DOES NOT MEAN WEAKNESS OR THAT YOU THINK POORLY OF YOURSELF “True humility is not thinking less of yourself, It is thinking of yourself less.” -C. S. Lewis Examples of Humble people in the Bible: MOSES “Now Moses was a very humble man, more HUMBLE than anyone else on the face of the earth.” -Numbers 12:3 MARY “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the HUMBLE state of his servant. -Luke 1:47,48 JESUS “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” -Matthew 11:28-30 It is very clear that the way the Bible uses the word “Humility”, doesn’t have anything to do with being a doormat! Rather, it’s a virtue that God wants us to have. Humility is God’s way. That is why the Bible says; “He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way” -Psalm 25:9 The word “Humility” comes from the same root word as the humusthat people use in their garden to help things grow. It is healthy, not unhealthy. It is an asset not a liability. HUMILITY IS NOT ABOUT SELF ESTEEM “Humility” is often mistaken as low self-esteem. But they are not the same thing. “Self-esteem” has to do with our individual assessment of where we fit into the “pecking order” of life. “Humility” does not care about placement on the totem pole of life. It is based on the understanding that our worth is based on the fact that we are made in the “image of God”. Humility is not putting yourself down, it is putting God first. BUILDING BLOCKS OF HUMILTY 1. Knowing that we can’t do anything alone. “Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. -2 Corinthians 3:4,5 2. Remember that we have nothing that we did not receive from God “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” -1 Corinthians 4:7 How can we ever really consider ourselves superior or inferior to anyone else? 3. Don’t try to “act” humble? It doesn’t work. Acting humble is just that: acting. Continually building a relationship with God is at the heart of the development of Humility. Humility is not something that we DO, it is something that we ARE. Humility is an inside thing, not an outside thing. When the Bible says “clothe yourself with Humility” Think of putting on “underwear” rather than “outerwear”. Humility that is worn as “outerwear” is like the false humility of the Pharisees that Jesus always warned about. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners TO BE SEEN BY OTHERS. -Matthew 6:5 That is not “Humility”, that is “show-boating” 4. Seek God first before anything else, then see yourself like God sees you and pray. “if my people, who are called by my name, will HUMBLE themselves and PRAY and SEEK my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will FORGIVE their sin and will heal their land.” -2 Chronicles 7:14 Note that Humility is often linked with a person’s desire and need for forgiveness. Cocky people usually do not seek forgiveness. They think that they are OK without it. It is only when one Humbles themselves and admits that they not only need it, but are powerless to do something about it all by themself. We ask for forgiveness in the “State of Humility”. Though Humility can be a feeling; it is more so a right perspective on who we are in relation to God. The closer we grow to Him, the more we grow into His image. “Clothing ourselves with humility” is about clothing ourselves “with the Lord Jesus Christ” “… clothe yourselves WITH the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” -Romans 13:14 TIMELESS CLOTHING AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE Humility is always something that people admire. Even those who don’t think that it serves their own interest. FREE CLOTHING Free in so far as the fact that, in the long-run you can’t afford not to put it on. COMMITMENT CLOTHING Certain styles of clothing take a real commitment. I have heard is said that only certain people can rock certain hairstyles. I think part of the reason is the level of commitment required to “maintain” or to “keep it up”. Humility takes commitment, upkeep and dedication because Satan is always tempting us to be like him who arrogantly wanted to be like God. He did not humbly keep his place of authority. He wanted more. “The angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.” -Jude 1:6 GOD WILL BALANCE PEOPLE “ Some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else… those who exalt themselves will be HUMBLED, and those who HUMBLE themselves will be exalted. -Matthew 23:19,20 BENEFITS OF HUMILITY Respect of many people Respect of God Virtue Freedom Self-awareness Wisdom Long life Health Reduced stress, Control Shows honor Peace DON’T TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTHING OF HUMILTY The Soldiers undressed Jesus from his HUMBLE clothing, and mockingly dressed him in Kingly clothing, but then they appropriately put them back on. It is interesting that “Becoming a better person” has now topped “Losing weight” as the number one New Years Resolution. That is a step in the right direction. An even greater step would be if “Becoming a humbler person” topped “Becoming a better person”. After all, “Humility” is at the heart of being a genuine, loving and forgiving person. For that is the heart of Jesus. He is always Jesus to us. This is yet another opportunity for us to “Be Jesus to others". Pastor Dave Word of Life Church 17525 W. Bell Rd. Surprise, AZ 85374