James 4:10 (NKJV) 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
We are looking at what it takes to successfully resist the devil. James tells us in chapter 4 verse 7 of his letter that if we resist the devil he will flee. However, there is a qualification. We must first submit to God. Submission in word is not true submission. We must submit in life and deed as well. We must examine ourselves to see that certain attitudes and actions are present. If they are, we are in position to resist the devil and see God’s possibilities instead of being limited to what is possible for us in the natural.
Today let us look at another of these qualifications. Remember, we want to see if they are in our lives and if they are not, we need to put into place so we will be in the right position to resist. James tells us in verse 10 that we must humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord.
Humility is an important quality in the life of any Christian. In verse 6 James quotes Proverbs 3:34 telling us that God resists the proud person but gives grace to the humble. It is interesting to note that in verse 7 he is talking about our resisting the devil. In this verse he says he will resist us if we are proud. We cannot be submitted to God and be proud at the same time.
The Greek word translated proud here means appearing above others. Humble means to be cast down or of low degree. God resists people who place themselves above others. He resists people who think they are better than those around them. He resists people who elevate themselves. He gives grace to those who choose to see themselves as less important than others. This is a key indicator that we are submitted to God.
The bottom line is who is most important in our eyes. If I am more important than the people around me, I am proud. If what is good for me is what is foremost in my thinking and decision making, I am proud. If I cannot be blessed if others are blessed but instead am angry or depressed, I am proud. God resists the proud.
The English definition gives further clarification. It means having or showing a high or excessively high opinion of oneself or one’s importance. How important are you to you? If your motto is “Look out for number 1.”, you are proud. God resists the proud.
James gives us the solution to pride. He tells us to humble ourselves in the sight of God. It is important to remember the last part of that statement: In the sight of God. We are not talking about emphasizing our own worthlessness. That is not what the bible teaches. The worth of anything is what someone will pay for it. I was worth the blood of God’s only begotten Son. Anytime you pay all you have of something for what you want, the only word to describe its value is priceless. God gave the only one he had to purchase you and me. That makes us priceless.
To humble ourselves means that we recognize that our value compared to God is nothing. He is the important one. He is the one who is “all in all.” I have value because he places it upon me. He created me and gave me worth.
We humble ourselves before God because of how worthy he is not because of how unworthy we are. That is what James is talking about here. We are truly submitted when we see how great he is compared to us. We are valuable. We should not walk around with an attitude of worthlessness. We should carry ourselves with the knowledge that he who is truly great is our Father who rescued us from worthlessness and death.
This then will translate to our relationship with others. When I understand that my value is in God, I do not have to compare myself with others to feel valuable myself. My worth is in who I am in God not what I am compared to others. I am then free to consider others more highly than myself and treat them with respect and value because I know their value comes from the same place mine does.
I will also be submitted to God because I choose to accept that he is higher than I am. The Lord is my shelter. I submit to him because I know how great he really is (Psalm 61:2-5). This attitude is something I must cultivate and choose. We cannot wait for the feelings of humility and submission to come. We must “humble ourselves.”
Paul knew this truth. There are many things in his letters that would indicate he had a problem with pride. He was well educated compared to the other Apostles. Jesus appeared to him personally. I think it is safe to say that Jesus sought Paul out because he needed someone with his educational background in the Old Testament to understand what he was bringing in the New Testament. Paul spent time with Jesus in the desert, was taken up to the third heaven and many signs and wonders were done by his hands. It was from Paul’s body that people took cloths and handkerchiefs to heal the sick and cast out devils. This caused some problems for Paul.
2 Corinthians 12:11 (NKJV) 11 I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing.
He knew it was foolish to boast in himself. It was Paul who told us that we are saved by grace through faith so there would be no room for boasting. Yet there were times when he found it difficult to resist the tendency toward pride because of who and what he was. He declares that he was behind “the most eminent of apostles” in nothing. However, in the end establishes the proper balancee by saying, “I am nothing.”
This was not true! Paul was far from nothing. He had great gifts and talents. God chose him because of them. God used him mightily. Yet in the end he realized that his real worth was in his relationship to Jesus. He did not always “feel” humility but he chose it. So can you and I.
There is a reason we can be free to choose humility over pride and self-preservation. It is in stated in 1 Peter 5:6-8.
1 Peter 5:5-7 (NKJV) 5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Peter also quotes Proverbs 34:3. He speaks of submitting to one another as well as humbling ourselves under God’s mighty hand. However, he adds the real reason we can humble ourselves and how we are to do so. We humble ourselves under his hand because he cares for us. The word used here when Peter says he cares for us means something that is of interest or something that matters. It also means to take care of someone. God is interested in you. You matter to him and he is committed to taking care of you.
How do I humble myself? I must cast the whole of my care onto Jesus. I cannot carry the burdens of life alone. I was never meant to. Jesus is the one who gave himself to carry my burdens. I know this is not always easy, but we must remember that he cares for us. He is almighty God and we are not. I am submitted to him when I realize that he is higher, stronger and more powerful than I am. He can carry the burden and he will help you do your part.
Cast your care on him. Submit to God’s goodness and his power. He will lift you up into impossible things.
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