Humility

Everyday With God
In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders.
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
'God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.'
1 Peter 5:5
Moses was said to be the most humble man on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3). Have you ever wondered why he was described in such a way? The end of the previous chapter offers some strong evidence as to why Moses was the humblest man on the face of the earth. Moses had a special relationship with the Lord which enabled him to prophesy and hear directly from God. Humanly speaking, he had every right to think much of himself and hoard this special gift, but this wasn’t the case. In Numbers 11 two elders are seen prophesying, and even though Joshua was full of wisdom, he was overcome with jealousy. He ran to Moses and said 'Moses, my lord, stop them!' (Numbers 11:29). Given the chance to place himself on a pedestal and demand all the attention on himself, Moses responds in this way, 'Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!' Moses didn’t think much of himself and his gift, he thought much of God and his glory. Moses desired others would experience God’s glory, it gave him great joy to see others experiencing God in this way!

How about you? When others become successful, or in some cases become even more successful than you, how do you respond? Is your response to be full of joy for them? Like Moses, are you desiring others to experience the gifts that God has given you? Maybe you can relate to Moses. But maybe you can relate to me. I know for myself and my fleshly nature I can sometimes desire success only for myself. Yet when I am reminded of the cross, and when I walk in the spirit, I begin to find more joy in being excited for other's success. It’s actually liberating to let go of our own desire for success and to start being as excited, or even more excited for others success. When we’re delighted to see others succeed, God gives to us joy. We receive joy by looking past ourselves to see and care for other people.

Though this is a desire for most of us, it can be hard to practically live out. We must remember we love because he first loves us. So out of the abundance of the fathers love for you, love others by being happy in their success. Because when you are happy for others success, you will not only find joy, but the Lord’s favor will be with you also.
 
Questions for reflection-
  • Who do you know that is genuinely happy when you succeed?
  • Who do you know that recently had success in a specific area of their lives? How can you celebrate with them?
  • Pray now and ask God to give you more love for others, and less preoccupation with your own desires.
Jay Quick | Student Ministries Director