James 4:6–7

Did you know that God is capable of hatred? Perhaps you think that God is so nice that he couldn’t bring himself to hate anything. The fact is that the Bible is quite clear that God seethes with hatred at times. In Proverbs 6:16–19 we learn that God hates seven things and top of the list is pride.

God’s problem with pride is that it is a complete rejection of him. The proud person doesn’t have any need for him, but lives a life in defiance of God’s will. And so we read that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. We therefore need to unpack carefully what this word ‘humble’ means because it is clearly the gateway to true blessing.

Humility doesn’t sound too attractive. We have awful images of people putting on an act, claiming to be but a mere worm and totally unworthy. That’s false humility. True humility is the reverse of pride. The proud person has hands that are so full of their own excellence that they are unable to receive anything from God. The humble person comes to God with empty hands, longing to receive his blessings.

The truly humble person understands that they are a much loved child of God and that they need to live in daily dependence on God. They don’t have an inflated view of their own importance but, at the same time, they see how important they are in God’s eyes. Humility is the key that unlocks the door to the life that God wants us to live.

Question

Think of somebody in whose life you have seen true humility. What have you learned from their example?

Prayer

Lord thank you that you are so eager to bless my life. Help me to come to you today with empty hands, ready to receive whatever you want to give me. Amen