Grace: Humility Brings a Greater Grace

In my earliest years, I attended a Christian school. I remember second grade distinctly because the “character theme” one month was humility. At the end of that month, in an assembly before the entire school, I was named the winner of the “Humility Award,” but then they took it away from me because I actually accepted the award!

OK, perhaps the story is not true, but it does illustrate the conflicting ideas Christians entertain regarding what it means to be humble.

Where do we get our ideas about humility?

If God gives grace to the humble, how can I eagerly pursue his best for me without falling into mere self-interest?

Both Peter and James quoted the Old Testament, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

They latched on to this teaching from:

Proverbs 3:34 NLT

34 The Lord mocks the mockers but is gracious to the humble.

It must be important. First, it tells us that God gives grace. Fair enough. Isn’t that what God is supposed to do?

But this verse also tells us that God gives grace to certain kinds of people—humble people.

Finally, it also tells us that God can withhold grace from another kind of people—the proud. Keep in mind that Peter and James were writing to believers.

Three times the scripture reminds us, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

James 4:6 NLT

6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

1 Peter 5:5 NLT

5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

This means there is a link between humility and grace.

When the Father sees his children willing to take the low place in the family, he pours out a special portion of grace to strengthen us in service to one another. Humility draws the blessing and favor of God.

The same one who stripped to the waist and washed the feet of his disciples will rejoice when we learn to prefer one another.

In fact, on four separate occasions Jesus employs this phrase, “the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

These passages are not simply repetition caused by the gospels retelling the same story. Each passage is unique. (Matt. 18:4, Matt. 23:12, Luke 14:11, and Luke 18:14).

Four times Jesus lays out the challenge, humble yourself, and, by grace, God will exalt you. But how?

The constant struggle between self and humility:

Goal of Greatness vs. The Dream of Dependency

Lay aside dreams of greatness and embrace dreams of dependency.

Matthew 18:1–4 NLT

1 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” 2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

This is the highway of the kingdom of heaven.

Living in the kingdom requires God’s intervention every day. We cannot “make the kingdom happen,” we can only proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is breaking in, and then depend on him to invade the ordinary with his presence and power.

The Thrill of Recognition Vs. The Joy of Serving

Matt. 23.1-9 “1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. 4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. 5 “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. 6 And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. 7 They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’ 8 “Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.

Matthew 23:11–12 NLT

11 The greatest among you must be a servant. 12 But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Lay aside the thrill of recognition and find the joy of serving.

If we are honest, we will recognize ourselves in the people Jesus describes;

those who strive for recognition by the way they dress, or where they park, or by the titles they hold.

Sometimes it’s cool to be the biggest fish even in a small pond.

It is thrilling to be noticed, to be selected from among the crowd for recognition.

Meanwhile, the servants come and go in the midst of all the clamor, quietly attending to the master’s business. But in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reveals that the Father is the one who “sees in secret.”

The Thirst for Honor Vs. Honoring Others

Lk. 14.7-13 “7 When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice: 8 “When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? 9 The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table! 10 “Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. 11 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Luke 14:12–14 NLT

12 Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. 13 Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”

Lay aside the thirst for honor from others and seek to honor others instead.

In fact, Jesus tells us to honor those who cannot repay us. True, there is a time of reckoning and a place to receive repayment, but it is not here and now; it is later.

Can we delay gratification, or does our thirst drive us to be satisfied now?

False Assessment Vs. Depending on God’s Mercy

Lk. 18.9-13 “9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’”

Luke 18:14 NLT

14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Lay aside self-assessment and depend on God’s mercy. Jesus draws a picture of two men at prayer. The first man begins his prayer with “thank you,” but quickly tallies up the score of the game he has been playing.

He has been keeping score all along and reminds God that he is the winner.

The other man starts with God's mercy instead of self-assessment. Scorekeeping (and judgment) belong to God. Let’s be careful. If we have a measuring stick, we will eventually be asked to stand next to it!

Pride is The Enemy

James 4:6 NLT

6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Many believers are surprised to learn that there is something we can all do to bring the grace of God into our lives: we can humble ourselves.

But the opposite is true. Our pride can block the grace of God. This means that among the enemies of grace, human pride hides deepest in our souls.

Because God’s grace meets us in our weakness, we think grace will expose us as frauds, when all the while grace flows ever stronger toward the humble in heart.

Pride has a thousand faces, but always the same dreary aim, to make more of ourselves and less of God.

Grace exposes our desire to sit on the throne of our own vainglorious, private kingdom. Pride is the leaven of the Pharisees. Pride is an enemy of grace.

You can’t give grace to people you look down upon; you can only give them pity.

Pride itself has read the Bible, so pride’s solution is false humility.

False humility is our attempt to fool God (even though in the end, we are only fooling ourselves).

We utter modest things about ourselves that we do not believe. The problem with false humility is that it’s false. False humility is the self-abasement we want others to reject, thus affirming our talent and skill.

C.S. Lewis helps us guard against false humility:

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself: it is not thinking of yourself at all.”

Pride is always a masquerade. We wear a mask.

We receive the praise of men, knowing all along that we look nothing like the costume we wear.

Pride leads to the kind hypocrisy in which we keenly discern the flaws of others because we are haunted by our own. We hide the very flaws he is willing to love.

Pride cannot see beyond itself. Pride whispers that if we must accept grace, then we should have it all.

Pride is a miser that hoards the grace of God. As if our sin were so great we could consume heaven’s full supply of grace, when in fact our sins are common to all mankind.

Pride causes us to see grace as a zero-sum game, as if God’s kindness to others means less grace for us. But grace is not of this world. It is not scarce. Grace is the stuff of the age to come.

Pride harms us deeply; grace heals us utterly.

Is it any wonder that “God resists the proud?” We should be the kind of people who humble ourselves. On the other hand, if we do not humble ourselves, we may just find out that God is opposing us. (I’m not sure what that looks like, but I’m pretty sure that it’s not a good thing.)

Today, I invite you to take inventory of your heart. A humble heart paves the way for a greater grace; a prideful heart does the opposite. Which one describes your heart?