Working out our Humility

Galatians 5:24-26

Introduction

The song: Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble…

We would love to be perfect in every way but all of us will quickly confess that we are far from it.

But, pride is a subtly that creeps up in many Christian circles.

God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Pride separates us from God.

Pride deceives us in thinking that we don’t need help, we can save ourself… we have enough talent… we have enough skills and smarts…

Seeking help is for the weak...

But the truth is, as humans, we all need God’s help… regardless how rich, educated, pure we think we are, we are all broken and helpless on our own.

This morning, as we take a good look at the Fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:24-26, we see that humility is essential for healthy spiritual growth.

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control

When we are cultivating the fruit of the Spirit in our life humility must increase and pride must decrease.

What is Humility?

HUMILITY IS… The disposition of valuing or assessing oneself appropriately; especially in light of one’s sinfulness.

Humility is not being weak… it’s being comfortable in your own skin. Being real.

Not having to be in the spotlight, or to be acknowledged... complemented

We don’t promote ourselves.

Humility is seeing ourselves as God sees us.

We are not trying to fit into the mold the world has created for us.

Our lifelong mission and purpose to fit the mold that God has created us to become… we are to become like Jesus.

Galatians 5:16-26 “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

PRAY

1. Humility is a mark of real strength

When I think of humility, strength isn’t the first word that would come to my mind.

Humility is giving up, surrendering, but when we look at the heroes we see throughout scripture, most of them were known for there humility.

Moses was considered the most humble man on the face of the earth.

David, refused to kill Saul because he was God’s anointed. Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea, Paul, but most of all Jesus.

From the manger to the cross, Jesus served as our perfect model of a humble servant.

Philippians 2:5-8 “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

Biblical humility is grounded in the character of God and our goal is to reflect Christ’s image. As followers of Jesus, we no longer identify with our sinful nature we now identify with Christ.

Galatians 5:24 "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

When we look at the acts of our sinful nature, we see nothing but pride and selfishness.

Pride causes us to overvalue the things that we need to give up.

Pride causes us to miss the eternal benefits of living in step with the Spirit of God.

Pride causes us to give up eternity for instant gratification.

Pride keeps us from being real about our own struggles.

The enemy want’s us to think that we can handle this on your own… so we isolate ourselves because we think others should never know our real pain, real struggles and temptations…

The enemy will isolate us from the pack so he can pick us off. He will use guilt and shame to distance ourselves from God.

Humility causes us to rely the Lord for strength and when HE makes us strong we grow and become spiritually fruitful.

Don’t let pride and fear cause us to be dishonest about our humanity. We are not perfect people, we are all in a process and that process can be painful but don’t struggle alone. Stay in community with one another. God is able to complete that supernatural work in our life.

It’s not about trying harder, but it’s about trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit to give us the strength to overcome.

Galatians 2:19-20 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Our old self is dead because we are now crucified with Christ. We are now alive in Christ, we are being made new, but it’s not an instantaneous thing, it’s a process of walking in Spirit.

When we stop worrying about our pride; humility becomes our strength in the journey. Our confidence is no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit through our new identity in Christ. That’s when we start producing the fruit of the Spirit.

2. Humility gets our selfie out of the way.

Selfie’s are fun… When we take a selfie, we tend to put ourselves in the picture. We are in the center, the focal point. We use filters to hide our flaws, to make us appear perfect and get rid of our imperfections.

Humility means that we need to get our selfie out of the way.

Galatians 5:26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

We put the filters on our selfie but we are not fooling anyone and we are definitely not fooling God. Living a filtered selfie life is not how God created us to live.

Romans 12:3-5 “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

NBA All Star Game. Team LeBron vs. Team Curry

Our new life in Christ is about serving one another, encouraging one another, loving one another as we are a part of the Body of Christ.

The church was intended not to be a country club but a hospital.

Not to be a snooty place where we think we are holier and better then the world. God never intended the church to be some blessed club where nobody outside of our circle is welcome.

No, we must be a spiritual hospital where anyone who is sick and hurting can come.

The church must be a place where anyone can come, like a hospital, and receive the spiritual health that only God can provide.

If that’s going to happen we must get our selfie out of the way.

We can never think that we are better than anyone else.

Don’t be that person who photobombs someone else's big moment.

Honor and love one another genuinely.

Give others an opportunity to excel, even if it costs us our own personal gain.

When we become insecure and prideful, take note and pray. Ask God to help you overcome those feelings of insecurity.

Remember how God sees you. No position, no personality, no person can ever take that away from you. God loves you more then you can possibly know.

We are chosen by God!

John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

God chose us to bear lasting fruit.

That’s the fruit of the Spirit… Love, Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

When we get our selfie out of the way, stop thinking we are better then others, stop being envious of other people’s successes, and start living like we know who we belong to. Our identity in Jesus must remain at the center of our life.

We will bear lasting fruit that is beyond our earthly life as we get our selfie out of the way and start being in step with the Holy Spirit.

3. Humility is cultivated through the power of the Holy Spirit

Galatians 5:25 “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

The Fruit of the Spirit is not some sort of moral guide. It’s only through the work of the Holy Spirit, cultivated through humility is what produces that lasting fruit.

We must be in a place where we are regularly and actively hearing from God.

Hearing from God’s Word… Spending time in God’s presence… welcoming the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Living within those loving boundaries that only the Holy Spirit can provide for us. Where we are seeking God’s direction and purpose for our lives.

That’s the place where we can confidently, yet humbly follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:13-14 “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”

It’s only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to put to death our sinful nature and that can only happen when we stay humble.

Living for Jesus, being Holy Spirit led, is not a promise that life will be easy.

God may be using a difficult situation to shake our foundation so that we become more dependent upon the leading of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus was tempted by the devil it was the Holy Spirit that led him into the wilderness.

Matthew 4:1 “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.”

When we humbly yield to God’s perfect plan, trust that God’s plan is so much better then our own.

Cultivating anything takes time. It takes consistently.

It takes faith as we willingly surrender our own plan for God’s perfect plan as we are led by the Holy Spirit.

Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Take Away

Humility cultivates the Fruit of the Spirit.

As we stay humble and walk in step with God, being led by the Spirit, the Fruit of the Spirit will flow naturally.

As we identify ourselves as dearly loved by God then we have nothing to be afraid of… nothing to prove.

So, come humbly before our heavenly Father.

In what ways would your life be different if your entire identity was defined simply by the fact that you are deeply loved by God?

What are things that block you from seeing that reality?