Raised by the
head of the nation, called by God to save his people, Moses also spent face to
face time with the Lord. It seems to me
that someone with such a life could become arrogant and dismissive of others
yet the Bible says, “(Now the man Moses was
very meek, more than all the men on the face of the earth.)” (Nm. 12:3) Some more modern people considered humble
would be Mother Theresa and Billy Graham.
All of these, for their ‘renown’ still maintained a humble demeanor.
This is one
of the things I learned about the Amish on our trip- they choose to live humble
lives. Their clothes are made to blend
in with each other instead of stand out; there are no fancy accessories. They wear their hair in the way they believe
honours God. They don’t like their
pictures being taken because they believe it is against the command not to have
graven images. In all my years, I’ve
never seen an Amish person of any age showing off, acting in pride or mistreating
others (though I am sure it happens as they are human).
I am not
putting them up on a pedestal as I know they have crimes committed in their
communities too, but I’m thinking about how society thinks of them and us as
non Amish Christians. Though the Amish
are considered odd in lifestyles, they are seen as humble, or at least as
standing differently than society. Many
unbelievers have said to me they find (non Amish) Christians to be arrogant and
only caring about proselytizing- not genuinely concerned about them. If this is the case, we have to pause to
consider why.
Jesus was
considered humble (Zc. 9:9; Mr. 10:45; Php. 2:5-8). We are supposed to follow Him, be like Him
(Mt. 16:24; 1Cr. 11:1,2). If people are seeing us as arrogant and
uncaring, then we need to consider ALL our actions. Are they in line with what Jesus would
do? Do we speak the way Jesus would
speak? Do we help others the way Jesus
would? As concerning our behaviour,
society should see us as humble people- for we are called to be humble.
if My people, who are called by My name, shall humble
themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I
will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2Ch.
7:14
…Put on humility. For God resists proud ones, but He
gives grace to the humble. 1Pt. 5:5
The meek He will guide in judgment; and the meek He
will teach His way. Ps. 25:9
Notice the
action on our part. We aren’t to wait
for God to miraculously change us to be humble people. It is something WE are to do. The opposites of humility are: arrogance, assertiveness, egoism,
pretentiousness, and self-importance and so in being humble we should not be
these things, yet we take pride in our assertiveness and often place importance
on ourselves, our needs etc. In thinking
of humility, I believe there are changes I need to make in myself.
Lord, help me to make them.
…He will beautify the meek with salvation.
Ps. 149:4