"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!

- Paul, to the church in Philippi  (Philippians 2:5-8)

I had the awesome privilege of preaching on Sunday, December 27th and for the first time ever, I had the opportunity to preach about the Christmas story.  One of the aspects of the Christmas story that continues to astound me is the humility of our Lord.  That the maker of all things would make Himself nothing - the thought alone fries my brain!  As we look ahead to the beginning of a new calendar year, I think humility is something God continues to call us to, but something we often misunderstand.

For the longest time I thought that humility meant making less of myself, in the sense that I would beat myself up, talk out loud about how wretched I was; I would be self-pitying, self-deprecating, and self-loathing.  The interesting thing about all of those qualities is that they start with "self," and are actually a warped way of keeping the focus still on myself instead of putting it on God and others.  If I say, "Well I'm just not that smart," or "I'm not very funny,"  I'm not being humble, I'm lying.  I'm also tearing down God, who gave me the brain and sense of humor that I have to use for His glory.  This is not the humility we see displayed in the life of our Messiah.

What is humility then?  Humility is others-mindedness.  Humility is making less of myself by making more of others and more of Jesus.  Humility is being so confident in who God is and who He has made me to be, that I am freed to serve, bless, and encourage others without any need of recognition.  When we humble ourselves, we seek the applause of Heaven rather than the accolades of humanity.  We seek the eternal praise of our loving heavenly Father by doing what we know pleases Him most: loving Him and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.  Earlier in Philippians, Paul says that this is what makes his joy complete: "Then make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Phil. 2:2-4)

So let's strive to be the msot humble people we know.

Leatn more about St. John's Reformed Church online: www.stjohnsss.org