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Meekness and Humility
God's Cure for Pride, Haughtiness, and Egotism
What does the Bible teach about meekness, humility, gentleness, and lowliness? How can God help us overcome pride, arrogance, haughtiness, self-will, selfishness, egotism, and self-assertiveness?
Why should people be meek and humble? What problems are caused by pride, arrogance, ego, self-exaltation, haughtiness, and self-will? Should you learn self-assertiveness, or should you learn not to be proud and haughty? What does the Bible teach about meekness, humility, gentleness, and lowliness in contrast to pride, selfishness, self-will, and arrogance?
Introduction:
Two of the greatest characters in the Bible possessed in common the qualities we want to study in this lesson.
Numbers 12:3 - Moses was very meek, above all men on face of the earth.
Matthew 11:29,30 - Jesus said, "I am meek and lowly in heart."
These men were two of the greatest characters who ever lived. Both were chosen by God to be givers of His law. Jesus was the Divine Son of God. Surely we should seek to be like these men.
Other verses emphasize the importance of these qualities
Matthew 5:5 - Blessed are the meek (gentle - NKJV), for they shall inherit the earth. Jesus declares a "blessing" (happiness) on those who are meek.
Galatians 5:22,23 - Meekness is one of the fruits of the Spirit - qualities that we must possess if we are led by the Spirit.
Proverbs 16:18,19 - Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly.
If we seek to be happy, to be led by the Spirit, to avoid destruction, and to be like great people such as Moses and Jesus, we need to possess meekness and humility.
It is the purpose of this lesson to study these qualities, what they are, and how they will affect our lives. As we study, we will frequently note Moses and Jesus as examples who teach us about meekness and humility.
Definitions:
Meekness
This is an extremely difficult word to translate into English, because we think "meek" implies weakness. Sometimes it is translated (NKJV) "gentleness," but that also implies weakness.
The best way to know the meaning of a word is to study passages where it is used. As we do, we will see meekness is an attitude or quality of heart [1 Peter 3:4] whereby a person willingly accepts and submits without resistance to the will and desires of someone else. The meek person is not self-willed - not continually concerned with self, his own ways, ideas, and wishes. He is willing to put himself in second place and submit himself to achieve what is good for others. Meekness is the opposite of self-will, self-interest, and self-assertiveness.
This is a sign, not of weakness of character (as some think), but of strength. It requires great self-control to submit to others.
Humility
This is an attitude or quality of mind [Acts 20:19] whereby a person holds low esteem or opinion of his own goodness and importance. Spiritually, one abases himself because he realizes his sinfulness and therefore he is willing to depend on God to meet His needs. It is the opposite of pride, haughtiness, and self-exaltation.
Part I: Meekness and Humility Toward God
In the Bible, meekness is primarily emphasized as submissiveness toward God (rather than toward men). As directed toward God, meekness and humility require the following:
I. We Must Recognize Our Sinfulness and Our Dependence On God.
A. We Must Recognize Our Sinfulness.
Luke 18:9-14
A Pharisee trusted in himself that he was righteous, prayed with himself, thanking God he was better than other people. Note the Pharisee's emphasis on self, exaltation of self, and his failure to see his sins.
The Publican pleaded for mercy admitting he was a sinner. Note the conclusion in v14 - One who exalts self will be abased, one who humbles self will be exalted! Humility is the opposite of self-exaltation and self-righteousness.
A preacher once preached a sermon on this story and afterward a man prayed, "Lord, we thank thee that we are not proud like that Pharisee"! He was doing the very thing he was saying he was not doing! We are all sinners. We have no right to look down on anyone as if we deserve salvation because we are so good, and they don't deserve it. We can be more righteous than the Pharisee, but only by humbling ourselves like the publican and calling on God to forgive us.
1 John 1:8,10
If we say we have not sinned, we are liars. We are all sinners, and often need forgiveness. We all deserve to be punished for our sins. We have hope of salvation only by God's gracious willingness to forgive. We are no better than the Pharisee or publican, in the sense we are all sinners.
B. We Must Depend on God.
Note the example of Moses - Deuteronomy 8:3,11-14,16-18
Moses knew that man lives, not by bread alone, but by the word of God. Our physical blessings come, not by our own power and might, but from God. All good things come from God.
We must appreciate how weak we would be without Him. This leads us to depend on God to meet our needs. In turn, we then appreciate and exalt Him.
Note the teaching of Jesus - Matthew 18:1-4.
The greatest in the kingdom is one who is humble like a little child. I have heard people say a child is humble because it is forgiving. Perhaps, but a child is not just forgiving; he is totally dependent on his parents.
Where does a child receive what he needs? Who provides his food, changes his diaper, and dresses him? When he has pain, for whom does he call? A child is weak, but he knows Momma and Daddy can meet his needs. So humility leads us to humbly admit our need for God.
Proper humility toward God is an admission of our own weakness, sinfulness, unprofitableness, and inability to obtain or accomplish by ourselves the things we need. We need help from someone far greater than we are. God knows what we need and what is good better than we know, and He has power to do what needs done. Humility will lead us to appreciate Him, trust His will, and give Him the glory, rather than exalting self.
God's Cure for Pride, Haughtiness, and Egotism
What does the Bible teach about meekness, humility, gentleness, and lowliness? How can God help us overcome pride, arrogance, haughtiness, self-will, selfishness, egotism, and self-assertiveness?
Why should people be meek and humble? What problems are caused by pride, arrogance, ego, self-exaltation, haughtiness, and self-will? Should you learn self-assertiveness, or should you learn not to be proud and haughty? What does the Bible teach about meekness, humility, gentleness, and lowliness in contrast to pride, selfishness, self-will, and arrogance?
Introduction:
Two of the greatest characters in the Bible possessed in common the qualities we want to study in this lesson.
Numbers 12:3 - Moses was very meek, above all men on face of the earth.
Matthew 11:29,30 - Jesus said, "I am meek and lowly in heart."
These men were two of the greatest characters who ever lived. Both were chosen by God to be givers of His law. Jesus was the Divine Son of God. Surely we should seek to be like these men.
Other verses emphasize the importance of these qualities
Matthew 5:5 - Blessed are the meek (gentle - NKJV), for they shall inherit the earth. Jesus declares a "blessing" (happiness) on those who are meek.
Galatians 5:22,23 - Meekness is one of the fruits of the Spirit - qualities that we must possess if we are led by the Spirit.
Proverbs 16:18,19 - Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly.
If we seek to be happy, to be led by the Spirit, to avoid destruction, and to be like great people such as Moses and Jesus, we need to possess meekness and humility.
It is the purpose of this lesson to study these qualities, what they are, and how they will affect our lives. As we study, we will frequently note Moses and Jesus as examples who teach us about meekness and humility.
Definitions:
Meekness
This is an extremely difficult word to translate into English, because we think "meek" implies weakness. Sometimes it is translated (NKJV) "gentleness," but that also implies weakness.
The best way to know the meaning of a word is to study passages where it is used. As we do, we will see meekness is an attitude or quality of heart [1 Peter 3:4] whereby a person willingly accepts and submits without resistance to the will and desires of someone else. The meek person is not self-willed - not continually concerned with self, his own ways, ideas, and wishes. He is willing to put himself in second place and submit himself to achieve what is good for others. Meekness is the opposite of self-will, self-interest, and self-assertiveness.
This is a sign, not of weakness of character (as some think), but of strength. It requires great self-control to submit to others.
Humility
This is an attitude or quality of mind [Acts 20:19] whereby a person holds low esteem or opinion of his own goodness and importance. Spiritually, one abases himself because he realizes his sinfulness and therefore he is willing to depend on God to meet His needs. It is the opposite of pride, haughtiness, and self-exaltation.
Part I: Meekness and Humility Toward God
In the Bible, meekness is primarily emphasized as submissiveness toward God (rather than toward men). As directed toward God, meekness and humility require the following:
I. We Must Recognize Our Sinfulness and Our Dependence On God.
A. We Must Recognize Our Sinfulness.
Luke 18:9-14
A Pharisee trusted in himself that he was righteous, prayed with himself, thanking God he was better than other people. Note the Pharisee's emphasis on self, exaltation of self, and his failure to see his sins.
The Publican pleaded for mercy admitting he was a sinner. Note the conclusion in v14 - One who exalts self will be abased, one who humbles self will be exalted! Humility is the opposite of self-exaltation and self-righteousness.
A preacher once preached a sermon on this story and afterward a man prayed, "Lord, we thank thee that we are not proud like that Pharisee"! He was doing the very thing he was saying he was not doing! We are all sinners. We have no right to look down on anyone as if we deserve salvation because we are so good, and they don't deserve it. We can be more righteous than the Pharisee, but only by humbling ourselves like the publican and calling on God to forgive us.
1 John 1:8,10
If we say we have not sinned, we are liars. We are all sinners, and often need forgiveness. We all deserve to be punished for our sins. We have hope of salvation only by God's gracious willingness to forgive. We are no better than the Pharisee or publican, in the sense we are all sinners.
B. We Must Depend on God.
Note the example of Moses - Deuteronomy 8:3,11-14,16-18
Moses knew that man lives, not by bread alone, but by the word of God. Our physical blessings come, not by our own power and might, but from God. All good things come from God.
We must appreciate how weak we would be without Him. This leads us to depend on God to meet our needs. In turn, we then appreciate and exalt Him.
Note the teaching of Jesus - Matthew 18:1-4.
The greatest in the kingdom is one who is humble like a little child. I have heard people say a child is humble because it is forgiving. Perhaps, but a child is not just forgiving; he is totally dependent on his parents.
Where does a child receive what he needs? Who provides his food, changes his diaper, and dresses him? When he has pain, for whom does he call? A child is weak, but he knows Momma and Daddy can meet his needs. So humility leads us to humbly admit our need for God.
Proper humility toward God is an admission of our own weakness, sinfulness, unprofitableness, and inability to obtain or accomplish by ourselves the things we need. We need help from someone far greater than we are. God knows what we need and what is good better than we know, and He has power to do what needs done. Humility will lead us to appreciate Him, trust His will, and give Him the glory, rather than exalting self.
I'm looking forward to the next part!