Humbling

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." - - 1 Peter 5:6

To Humble = to lower oneself; to do something one considers to be beneath one's dignity (courtesy of Wiktionary)

So, how can we strive to humble ourselves? I guess we should first ask ourselves what we consider beneath our dignity? Better yet - let's look at Jesus humbling actions.

- He washed the desciples feet and wiped them with his towel. (He didn't think an act of kindness and caring was beneath him.)
- He took water from the Samaritan woman at the well even though other Jews saw her as beneath them. (Perfect example to show us not to do as others do.)
- He stayed at Zacchaeus' house even though the people of Jericho talked about him staying at the house of a sinner. (But He did this, even though He was free of sin.)


But the single greatest humbling event was when Jesus went to the cross for us. He hadn't sinned. He faced every temptation you and I do and yet He remained pure. But instead of making us suffer for our own decisions, He loved us so much He died for us.

He humbled himself before his Father, took every bit of our sins upon himself and suffered on the cross so that we might experience eternity with Him in Heaven! Scripture tells us that he was afraid to go and we can't even imagine the pain he was in.

But did he seem angry? Resentful toward us? Did he lash out at others like we do when we feel hurt? No. Despite the terror he endured he called out to His Father, "Yet not my will, but Yours be done."

Wow - Let's try that humbling thing again.