What Does it Mean To Be Humble?

James 4:10, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” 1st Peter 5:6, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:”

My definition of "humble" is: "TOTAL SUBMISSION TO GOD'S WORD." The Hebrew meaning of "humble" in the Old Testament is "to depress, look down upon.' Matthew 11:28-30, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." To be humble is a mindset of humility, having a low opinion (in a good way) of one's self. Pastor Jack Hyles used to say: "I don't have an inferiority complex, but I know I'm inferior." God led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, into hardship in the desert (unbearable heat from the scorching sun, scorpions, snakes, drought, lack of food) to humble them for 40 years...

Deuteronomy 8:2, "And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no." 

2nd Chronicles 33:10-12, "And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken. Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,"

Adversity humbles a man. I heard a wonderful sermon last week by Pastor Jack Hyles called: "HOW TO HAVE DEPTH." In the sermon Dr. Hyles says that he can tell everyone how to have depth of Christian character with one word: ADVERSITY. Brother Hyles then explains the hardships that his mother Coystal Hyles suffered through, which gave her the depth of Christian character that she admirably had. She went to Heaven in 1984.

Most churchgoers today lack humility. Most of them are not saved. It appears that Lordship Salvation has infected upwards of 90% of Baptist churches. When a man is truly broken and humble, He is receptive to God's leading and truth. James 4:6-7, "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Being humble is the opposite of being proud. The Bible says only by pride cometh contention. Proverbs 13:10, "Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom." Very, very few people are truly humble. A humble person doesn't gossip about others, slandering and tearing them down. Humility says, "I am the biggest sinner I know, so I judge no one!" 

One of my favorite sermons by Dr. Jack Hyles is called: "The Good Man Versus The Spiritual Man." A good man doesn't live the life of sin that he used to, but he still looks down on the carnal believer that does. The spiritual man says, like the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:24, "O wretched man that I AM." The good man mourns the sins he used to commit, but the spiritual man mourns what HE IS (a dirty redeemed sinner). The gist of the sermon is that a spiritual Christian won't condemn others believers, who are weaker and not as good a Christian as they are. Put another way, Pastor Hyles made this beautiful statement: "First Baptist Church of Hammond will become a great church when we stop saying: 'He has sinned' and 'She has sinned' and we start saying, 'We have sinned.'" I love that truth! 

A humble person doesn't condemn others, they do as the publican who went up to the temple to pray, who wouldn't even lift his head to Heaven, and said in his heart, "God be merciful to me, a sinner." We ought not judge other sinners because they sin differently than we do! Being humble means realizing that God is the Potter, and we are the clay. Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” Humility is a mindset of loving God and mankind, so that we don't want to commit an offence against either God or our neighbour. Pride is selfish, is greedy of gain, and regards neither God nor man.

James 4:10, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” 

1st Peter 5:5, “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”  

1st Peter 5:6, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:”

Being humble means always giving God all the credit, praise and glory for everything in our life. Jesus said in John 15:5 that without Him we can do nothing. ...

Daniel 5:22: "And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; But hast lifted up thyself against the LORD of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:"

The way to be humble is to purpose in our heart to always praise God for everything in our life, both good and bad. I listened to the book of Psalms today. What a beautiful book! David was humbled by his sins that broke him. The result of being humbled was that David praised the Lord more than ever. Here is Alexander Scourby reading the Psalms.

Being humble is purposing in our heart that we are mere clay, and God is our Maker, and we ought to continually heed His Word. Ecclesiastes 12:13 says the "whole duty" of man is to "FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS." I use capitals for emphasis, not to shout. Our purpose for existence is to please God (Revelation 4:11). Hebrews 11:6 says without faith it is "IMPOSSIBLE" to please God. Jesus said in Mark 11:22b, "HAVE FAITH IN GOD." To me, being humble means submitting to God in all our ways. Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil." Humility is admitting that we are weak, but He is strong. Humility is realizing that we cannot make it alone without God. If we don't read the Bible and pray, we are saying: "God, I can go it alone, I don't need your help." That is sinful pride. Being humble means lowering ourselves in our own mind below the other guy, esteeming others better than our self. That was the mind of Jesus. 

Philippians 2:3-5, "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:"

Jesus was God on earth, but He humbled Himself (Hebrews 5:8), living as a mortal man. Our blessed Savior was a lowly man, meek, humble and looking for ways to continually help others:

Matthew 11:28-30, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Being humble is an attitude that I am nothing, but Jesus is everything. Galatians 6:3, "For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself."
Pastor Jack Hyles, in chapter 6 of his book: "How To Boost Your Church Attendance," says concerning humility:

"Have Real Humility. Humility is not cowardice; neither is it timidity. Humility is a feeling that "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." There is a fine line of distinction between a person who is "cocky," and a person who is humble. A cocky person says, "I can do all things." A humble person says, "I can do all things . . . through Christ."

I like that definition. In chapter 15 of Dr. Hyles classic book: "Blue Denim And Lace," he teaches concerning "Gratitude":

"Real gratitude is real humility. One cannot be humble without gratitude, and one cannot be grateful without humility. Many years ago someone took a poll as to the greatest sin committed by mankind. To the surprise of many, the sin chosen as the greatest and most oft committed was the sin of ingratitude. Let us meditate for a while upon this grace which is so necessary to a successful and happy Christian life."

Being humble is synonymous with having a thankful spirit at all times toward God. 1st Corinthians 15:57, "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 2nd Corinthians 2:14, "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place." A humble person is a thankful person. Sinful pride says: "I don't deserve this. I deserve better! Why is this happening to me? I have been faithful to God, but He doesn't answer my prayers, I think I deserve God's help." We all have temptations to think that God owes us, but He doesn't owe us anything except eternal damnation in Hell for our sins. THANK GOD for Jesus Christ that made a way of escape from God's wrath (Romans 5:9).

Being humble means saying with Job in Job 13:15, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him." I hope that is all helpful to you dear reader. Someone may have a better answer theologically of what humility means, but these are my humble (no pun intended) thoughts on this matter. God bless and have a good day.