Humility Comes From Wisdom

“Beloved: Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show his works by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom.” James 3:13

In some translations of this verse, humility is interchangeable with meekness. First comes wisdom, and then follows humility and meekness. Totally opposite from what the world would tell us, right? Usually when one is wise in the world’s ways, he is superior, and usually arrogant and thinks he is always in the right. The humble man is one with low self-esteem and thinks he should always be at the back and bottom of the rung.

But what is Biblical humility? I always like to study this, because I am not naturally humble. I can be over confident at times, that’s what my sisters tell me anyway. I certainly don’t set myself up as less than I am or put myself down in any way. But that’s not what being humble is in any scriptural sense.

Could it be that being humble merely means we recognize how big a God we serve, and we see ourselves as really so insignificant but His amazing love changes all that? We can be a Moses who was a friend of God, but who knew the size of His God. That is why Moses was a “very humble man, more so than anyone on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3) Moses was a witness to so many miracles God was capable of. How about David? In many verses of 2 Samuel 7, we see King David’s humility before God: “Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?” The King deeply respected God, and in His prayer, He showed how amazed he was at how God wanted to honor him. “How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you!” He believed God’s promises to him and he was awed! 

If we are to be wise, we too should know God’s promises to us. Like King David, if we believe in His promises from of old, we too will be deeply humbled and amazed at how much God loves and treasures us. Perhaps we already know these promises, and they have grown stale from rereading. We need to go back and ask the Holy Spirit to imbue them with new life. After all, we are all sons and daughters of the King of Kings. There is no limit to what Almighty God can do for us!