Every Reason to be Humble, Part 2

James 4:6 God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

We all desperately need the grace of God. We need it to have faith to believe in Jesus Christ. We need it to receive anything at all from the Lord. We know that we need it in relating to others.

If we want to find grace, we need to get humble or stay humble. According to James 4, humility is where God provides grace. Grace is like water—it flows to the lowest place. Those looking for water seek the low spots. Those looking for grace do the same thing.

If we want to be humble, we don’t have to look far for good reasons. It comes down to two realities: we are deeply fallen creatures, and He is Almighty God. If we live in those two related truths, we’ll find grace.

First, as a race, our fall into sin was deeper than our limited minds can even comprehend, and the effects were more profound. Our mental, emotional, and physical selves—as well as spiritual selves—have been affected and infected more than our inadequate capabilities can fathom. We not only need to take the benefits of the cross of Christ by faith; we need to take by faith the Scriptures’ words about the effects of the fall on us. Romans 3:10-18 says:

As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside;

They have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.”

…Destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known.”

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Sin has affected every part of our bodies and minds, including how we view ourselves. (We not only tend to think more of ourselves than we ought—Romans 12:3—but apart from Christ, we only have a skewed perspective on who we are and Who He is). Our senses have been dulled. Sin’s effects are present in our thoughts, our moods, our motivations, our lack of utter dependence on God and our incomplete desire for His glory and our small ability to love God and others as we should.

That may not be encouraging to contemporary self-image thinking. But it’s really good news—because it’s reality. It’s the first half of understanding the first thing about humility.

Once we understand how deeply we’ve been reduced, wounded, and twisted from sin, the more likely we’ll take on the reality of humility before God and find His grace.

Prayer: Lord, help me to realize how much sin has affected me on every level. Help me to realize how much I need Your Word and Your Spirit to bring light and truth to my mind and heart. Thank You that You loved us enough to draw us out of sin and into Your life.