What's the Big Deal With Being Humble?

The kind of heart God can work with is the lowly and humble heart. We’ll call those the pliable people. God loves them. He expects people to be pliable in His hands, and it only comes with humility and submission to Him.

A humble heart is one that is closer to the earth…a little more desperate and needy. I know, it’s not the way we think we should live. We think we should be on top of the world. But when a person is self-sufficient and self-relying, they don’t need or acknowledge God, and as I’ve said before, our parents raised us to be independent, but God is raising us to be dependent, on Him. And so we’re back to the humble heart.

Often the first time a word is mentioned in the Bible sets the tone for its meaning throughout the Bible. The first time humble is mentioned, it’s a message for the wicked Pharaoh who is holding the Israelites captive in Egypt, refusing to let them go, and making their life miserable. God chooses His spokesmen, Moses and Aaron: And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me. (Exodus 10:3) 

Humble before God is the point. It means afflict and oppress. And all through the Bible, God wants people to be humble before Him. It only happens when we’re brought low, crushed and needy. Why does He want us humble? So we’ll be obedient to Him. Pharaoh wasn’t obedient in letting God’s people go because he wasn’t humble.

The humble/obedience connection is underscored the next time the word humble is used in the Bible. It’s in Deuteronomy, and it’s after the Israelites have been free, but wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. (Deut. 8:2) 

If the idea of being humble is just about afflicting us, that’s a little hard to understand. But look at the third time the word is used. Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; (Deut 8:16)

The New Testament supports God’s ultimate goodness resulting from our humility. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: (1 Pet. 5:6)

So, if you are being crushed, afflicted and oppressed—depressed, ask God what He wants to teach you and how you can grow through this. Tell Him you know this isn’t for naught. Submit to whatever it is He has for you.