James 4:6, 10 – But He gives more grace. Therefore God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you

THEME OF THE DAY: THE REQUIREMENT FOR ALL SPIRITUAL GROWTH. We must have this. It is not optional. Without it, nothing spiritually good will happen in our lives. It is the main thing when it comes to our spiritual health. The “it” is the Fruit of the Spirit humility. Humility is the most important and necessary virtue for everything in the Christian life. Without humility, no acceptable worship occurs. Without humility, no service pleasing to God occurs. Without humility, no ability to forgive those who sin against us occurs. Without humility, no genuine Biblical fellowship in the church of the Lord Jesus occurs. Without humility, no godliness in our homes occurs. Without humility, no spiritual growth occurs. Without humility, no conformity to Christ occurs. So how does this important and necessary virtue grow in our lives? Let’s consider two things to answer that question. Both are revealed through the prophet Isaiah.

First, we grow in humility as God gives us a Holy Spirit, Word-based illumination of His greatness – For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite (Isaiah 57:15). God describes His greatness to us in three ways. We see His exalted position above all things – “high and lifted up”; we see His infiniteness or eternality making Him so unlike us finite creations – “who inhabits eternity”; and we see His blazing beauty of perfection – “whose name is holy.” When God shows us Himself in all three of these splendid displays of His character, the only response is humility; a deep seated and life-changing experience of being emptied of pride and self-importance. John Calvin was right. Let me paraphrase what he said concerning our understanding of God and ourselves which is the foundation of humility. He said, “We see ourselves right only as we see God right and the beginning point is seeing God, not us.” Remember, the Bible begins with “In the beginning God”, not “in the beginning man.” The self-revelation of God’s greatness is the starting point for humility, but there is another important step to realize if we want to have a life of humility leading to spiritual growth. It is the experience of God’s condescending love.

The prophet Isaiah continues his theme of the greatness of God but adds also the character of His condescending love. He wrote, “Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:1-2). Sit back with me and think about this. The God who spoke all of creation into being with His Word; the God who is high and lifted up and inhabits eternity; the God who needs nothing or no one to be content or satisfied says, “I will fellowship with you. I will shower you with My love and Presence” – But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. Is there really anything more humbling and delightful to the soul than to know our great God condescends to us with His great love? God draws near to us because He delights in doing so. Let the realizations of God’s greatness and condescending love do their work of humbling us and putting us on the firm footing from which all spiritual life and growth occurs.

PRAYER: “Father, help me not rebel when You do the necessary and painful work of developing humility in me.”

QUOTE: “Without humility, the Christian life is not the Christian life. Humility is the foundation for it all”