Earlier I wrote about following the example of Christ’s humility. Paul tells us that we should have the same mindset as Christ. He reminds us of how Christ let go of all that was rightfully his in order to become a servant and live a life of obedience — even to the point of death. The result is that God exalts Christ to the highest position in creation, to whom every knee will bow.
The process is the same — to an obviously lesser extent — for the followers of Christ. When we humble ourselves in imitation of Christ, God is able to exalt us in honor of Christ.
Jesus said, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)
I’ve heard this verse described this way: Your job is to humble yourself, God’s job is to exalt you. If you try to do his job, he’s forced to do your job.
God wants to bless us. He even wants to exalt us, according to Jesus. But he can’t and he won’t as long as we’re bent on exalting ourselves.
A friend once told me (only half-joking, I assume), “Steve, when people meet you, the first thing they don’t think is, ‘Wow, what a humble guy.’” That concerned me, and I began to wonder what I needed to do in order to convince others that I am sufficiently humble.
And then I realized what the Word actually says. Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord. (1 Peter 5:6)
The fact is that you don’t have to convince me that you’re humble, and I don’t have to convince you. We are to humble ourselves before God; he knows when we’re doing it right and he knows when we’re just playing a game. And when we’re doing it right, he stands ready to bless — exalt us, even — at the proper time.
