What is Humility?

I'm just, a nobody, trying to tell everybody, about Somebody who can save anybody.

Coming straight from God's Word…It means low lying, of low degree, to be brought low, of low estate, cast down, or humble in spirit. The word for humility is translated several different ways in the New Testament alone:

Matthews 18:4 "humble",
Matthews 23:12 "abased"
Luke 3:5 "brought low"
Luke 1:46 "low estate"
Luke 1:52 "low degree"
Acts 8:33 "humiliation"
II Corinthians 7:6 "cast down"
II Corinthians 10:1 "base"
Philippians 3:21, "vile" in reference to the body of humiliation.
James 1:10 "made low"

But my favorite comes from the old testament: Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food. Proverbs 12:9 NIV

Moses spent forty years thinking he was somebody; then he spent forty years on the back side of the desert realizing he was nobody; finally he spent the last forty years of his life learning what God can do with a nobody! That is humility! When God intends to fill a soul, He first makes it empty. When he intends to enrich a soul He first makes it poor; when He intends to exalt a soul, He first makes it sensible of its own miseries, wants, and nothingness. That is humility! God has two thrones, one in the highest heavens and the other in the lowliest heart. That is humility! Humility will do several things for you:

1. Take you away from the shadow of yourself.
2. Keep you from a sense of over evaluating yourself..
3. Save yourself from thrusting yourself upon others.
4. Save you from the desire of displaying yourself.
5. Keep you from the "center stage" mentality.
6. Save you from desiring to be the object of observation.

Beloved, we must discern that humility is not measured in giftedness. God sees the heart and others see the glory. But humility is esteeming others higher than us. Humility is the recognition that others have gifts we need, and that our lives can not be full without the operation of the entire body. Humility is recognition of dependence and interdependence. God has made us a team member and we can not function without others around us. No matter how gifted we are, we will always need others. God has made it that way so no member in His body can boast of independence and live on its own. Every member is important and as long as we understand that we will have a humble heart and treat others with humility.

"And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary." (1 Corinthians 12:21, 22)

Therefore, I stand and say again I'm just, a nobody, trying to tell everybody, about Somebody who can save anybody.

Elder J. Andres Vazquez