A New Devotion - Reclaiming Humility

Here's a new devotion that I wrote. You can find a recording of this devotion at the bottom of the page.

Matthew 20:20-28

The mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." He said to them, "You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father."

When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

Reclaiming Humility

Since the beginning of Christianity, humility has been considered a virtue. Jesus called the meek blessed, and Paul listed it among the fruits given by the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, the heros of the faith were those who were able to recognize that, regardless of their accomplishments, they were still sinners redeemed by Christ. You see, a follower of Jesus was just that, a follower. And as such, that disciple was ready to serve, not be served. And so, it just made sense that, for almost 2,000 years, modesty and humility was valued by Christians.

But sadly, that’s changed. Now many believers seem to revel in arrogance and offer esteem and even respect to the proud. Personal modesty has been swapped for an attitude that’s brash and crude. And self-sacrificial service has been replaced by self-centered aggrandizement. In other words, a lot of Christians have accepted an very unchristlike attitude and applied it to those whom they choose to follow. And as a result, humility has gotten lost in the shuffle.

Still, that doesn’t have to be case, because we can restore the teachings of Christ and recognize the importance of modesty. And we can do it by opening our Bibles and by reading and applying passages like the one we just considered, scripture that reminds us that pride and arrogance were shown by those who opposed Jesus, not those who followed. And if enough of us choose to do that, we just might see our church and society begin to change as we reclaim humility.