Years ago, there was a silly county western song, “Oh Lord, It’s Hard to be Humble”, written and sung by Mac Davis.
“Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble
When you’re perfect in every way
I can’t wait to look in the mirror
‘Cause I get better lookin’ each day”
Humility is something that we have all had to battle at one time or another. Pride takes a variety for forms from self-exaltation to low self-esteem.
Think of Jesus. He was at the creation of the world; heaven was His home. He had the ability to do all things, to rule all things and He came as a baby with no reputation.
Who else had angels filling the sky and announcing their birth? Who else had the wisest men in the known world searching for Him and bringing Him gifts of incalculable value? Who else had an angel appear to His mother for his baby reveal?
“…and His name shall be called “Mighty God”. Isaiah 9:6
I still can’t get my mind around it fully – that Almighty God came in the form of a baby and subjected himself to a human life. Why? Because of His great love. From that love came His desire to see us (mankind) return to our right relationship with the Father.
“The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw his divine greatness—the greatness that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
How many times in a week do we complain when we are asked to do something menial, trivial, beneath us? Clean a toilet, help a co-worker with a mess they’ve made, a job that’s “below” our pay grade…
Do we take the same attitude that Jesus took? What if he had said to Father God, “ya, I’ve thought about it and decided I’m not going to earth. Those people won’t appreciate what I’m doing, they will only expect more. They won’t realize who I really am; some of them will really hate me and spend all their time discrediting me and telling lies about me. No, I don’t need that kind of treatment – I deserve better than that.”
“In your life together, think the way Christ Jesus thought. 6 He was like God in every way, but he did not think that his being equal with God was something to use for his own benefit. 7 Instead, he gave up everything, even his place with God. He accepted the role of a servant, appearing in human form. During his life as a man, 8 he humbled himself by being fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death—death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8 CEV
When things get hard to handle and we feel underappreciated, remember Jesus, God’s own son – He left the perfection of heaven to come to earth – “mighty God” and became a servant to all. He gave to us the living gift of humility.
