Humility Is Not Thinking Less of Yourself
A common definition of humility goes something like this: Humility is thinking less of yourself.
I’m not a fan of that definition. In fact, I think it is deeply flawed.
The problem with this way of understanding humility is that it ignores, or undermines even, the exceeding value of everyone. Every man, woman, and child is made in the image of God. We should not, therefore, as image bearers think less of ourselves because in doing so we are thinking less of God, the one in whom’s image we are made.
Furthermore, for those of us who have trusted in Christ, we have been forgiven by God and have been credited with Christ’s righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). When God sees us, He sees us as fully forgiven, fully obedient, dearly loved children. To think less of ourselves as believers means we stand in conflict with the way God sees us.
So this definition of humility should, I believe, be rejected.
Humility Is Anchoring Your Identity to the Gospel
But there is a sense, one could argue, that humility is indeed thinking less of yourself—a selfish, prideful way. And that is an important nuance. Humility as a believer should be recognizing and appreciating our great value in God while also recognizing that our worth comes from Him and Him alone.
We are not worthy because of our talents, skills, appearance, intelligence, athleticism, or, thankfully, how well we can call balls and strikes. Our worth rests completely in Christ alone.
A possible starting point for defining humility then, is to anchor our identity to the gospel. Humility is recognizing that a person’s exceeding wealth is to be found in Christ’s work alone.
Humility Is Putting Others First for the Gospel
And this takes us to the second part of humility—what John demonstrated so well. That because we recognize that our worth is to be found in Christ alone, we cannot, nor should not, think more of ourselves than others. Instead, we are to put others first following in the example of Christ.
That last part is why this matters so much. This is why we strive to out serve one another. This is why we defer every opportunity we get. Because in doing so, we paint a beautiful and powerful picture of what Christ has done when He came to earth and laid down His life for us.
This primacy of Jesus is what John shows us and what we want to help our kids show the world.
*Devo from Pastor Brian, from The Gospel Project.
#JesusJams for today!
---> And here's this week's story!!
Christ Connection: John the Baptist told people to get ready for Jesus, the promised Messiah. Now that Jesus was on earth, John’s mission was complete. Jesus was greater than John, and John joyfully stepped aside as Jesus began His earthly ministry.
If you have a bible at your house, you'll be turning to Matthew 3 to read with your family this week! If you don't have one, that's okay! CLICK HERE.
OPTION 1: Increase or decrease? Select a kid to think of a number between 1 and 100, including both 1 and 100. Instruct that kid to whisper the number to you, and then allow the other kids to guess the number. After each guess, the kid who’s thinking of the number will tell the kids if they should increase or decrease their next guess to be closer. When the kids guess the right number, select a new kid and start again. Be prepared to help kids answer if they are unsure if a guess is above or below their number. SAY • You had to increase or decrease the values of your guesses to get to the correct answer. Today we will learn about a time John told people that Jesus must increase while he decreased. What do you think it means for Jesus to increase?
OPTION 2: Grow and shrink Help the kids form pairs. Provide each pair with a stretchy coiled spring toy. Give the pairs a few minutes to play with the toys, encouraging them to stretch them and allow them to retract. Show the kids how to send vibrations or waves along the length of the stretched toy. If you have access to a stairway, consider showing the kids how the toys can “walk” down the stairs by flopping and stretching and coming back together. SAY •Those toys are especially fun because of the ways they can grow and shrink. Today we will learn about John the Baptist. He wanted to “shrink” and Jesus to “grow.” We’ll learn what that means soon.
OPTION 3: Alphabet Praises Direct the kids to sit in a circle. Select a kid to start the game by saying a trait of Jesus or a reason why He deserves all glory. This word must start with the letter A. The kid to her right will say another trait or reason, starting with the letter B this time. Play continues in this way until a trait has been named for every letter of the alphabet. Be prepared with some ideas of words for trickier letters, such as Q or X, and consider allowing some flexible rules, such as using words that start with Ex- instead of X. SAY • Jesus is the greatest of all. We love and praise Him because He alone is the perfect Messiah who died to save us from sin. John the Baptist told people to follow Jesus. We can tell others to follow Jesus as well!
