The Good Thing About Being Humble

The good thing about being humble is that we learn what words mean. Before I became a musician I went to college to study engineering; the lecturer spoke about Emery Paper. I thought he said Emily Paper, but was too proud to ask in class, so the next time I mentioned about Emily Paper to someone they broke into fits of laughter.

The good thing about being humble is that we get help in time of need. My granddad told me about a man who prayed in church during the depression saying "Lord you know that I don't even have a suit of clothes to come to church in". Next Church service someone brought him a fine suit of clothes. We need each other, God has made us gregarious. It's silly to suppose we don't need other people and it's stupid to be too proud to let people know we have needs. God uses other people to help us.

The good thing about being humble is that it doesn't grieve us when someone gets a job we think we should have had. Like when we've worked at a place for two years and three months and someone gets a promotion who has only worked there for two years and two months. Instead of getting uptight about it we should congratulate them. Maybe God is saving us from some extra responsibility that we would hate if we got it.

The good thing about being humble is that we never get embarrassed. We have no image to keep up. The slightly odd thing about humility is that if we think we are humble we may not be. If someone gives you a badge saying "I Am Humble", don't wear it. We can ask the Lord for humility but not thank Him for it. "Yes I'm quite proud of my humility" is an oxymoron and the person who said it is the same without the oxy. Jesus made Himself of no reputation but humbled Himself even to the extent of dying a criminal's death on a Roman cross. Proud things stick up, being humble means to be low. Maybe we shouldn't pray "Lord keep me humble" but "Lord help me to be humble". A young minister was performing his first wedding ceremony when he realized he'd forgot to write the bride's name down and he wasn't sure if he could remember it correctly. He was too proud to admit his oversight so he thought of an ingenious plan. He looked at the bride and said "Under what name are you gathered here today?" She looked at him rather puzzled as she couldn't remember that bit in the wedding rehearsal they'd held only two days previously so she said, "Under the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?" The minister had to own up to his mistake in front of the whole congregation. So next time you find yourself in an embarrassing situation instead of getting hot under the collar say, "Thank you Lord for another opportunity to be humble". I have personally found the Lord to be quite helpful in this area.

The good thing about being humble is that we can laugh at ourselves. When I sing in schools sometimes the younger students laugh, at first I didn't like this. Then I thought "why am I upset? Maybe I should be humble and laugh with them," so I tried it, it felt awkward at first but then I got into it and found that I suddenly had a rapport with them that I wouldn't have otherwise had. Now I try to do it all the time everywhere I go. A merry heart has a continual feast.

The good thing about being humble is that sticks and stone can break my bones but names will never hurt me. We are told to bless those who curse us, being humble sounds easy until we have to do it. Until we have found out that someone has been saying nasty things about us. I'm allergic to three things, eggs, fresh cream and humble pie. I just can't get that pie into my mouth; it looks tasty enough especially when I'm in church on a Sunday morning listening to the preacher talk about how important it is to eat it. But when the time comes to actually eat it I find it is one of the hardest things in the world to actually do. What is this massive ego inside of me? I never even knew it was there until I realised it's inflated like a hot air balloon. Yet if we can bless those who curse us we find peace, after all it was the Prince of Peace who said "Father forgive them because they don't know what they are doing" as He was being nailed to the cross.

The good thing about being humble is that the Lord fights our battles for us. Vengeance is the Lord's says the scriptures. So if I can manage not to retaliate when someone has criticized me, if I can leave room for God's wrath as the scripture says I will save myself a lot of trouble and grief. The trouble is sometimes I find I can't wait for God to step in, sometimes He's too slow and I step in and take matters into my own hands and probably ruin what He was trying to do, because I don't have the full picture but He does.

The good thing about being humble is that we don't lose friends very easily. Sometimes our friends get angry with us but a soft answer turns away anger, which is good because if we got angry too, we may lose our friends. We all get angry now and again but if we have good friends they'll put up with us until we've calmed down.

The good thing about being humble is that we don't get into trouble so often. In the army soldiers who keep their heads down didn't get hit. Humus is the Latin word we get the humility from and it means the ground. If a nail in a piece of wood is sticking up proud someone can hurt their hand on it, and someone is sure to come along who will hammer the nail back into the position it should be in, level with the wood. Better to keep low in the first place if you don't want a hammer coming down upon you. Humility is not timidity; those who are humble sometimes have to take a stand. God has not given us the spirit of timidity, but He does want us to use the humility He gives.

The good thing about being humble is that it makes us more like Jesus who was humble of heart. It was prophesied about Jesus that "I am a worm not a man". Worms crawl around in the dust. Jesus was despised and scorned but God opposes the proud yet gives grace to the humble. Jesus may have died a cruel death yet he was only dead for three days and is still alive now.

The good thing about being humble is... well there are so many, maybe if you have a think about it you'll spot many more good things about it.

Bio

Paul is a singer/songwriter, author and speaker. He tours with his band, the Paul Poulton Project in the UK and the US, playing modern rock, blues and funk His next tour of the US is being planned for July/August 2009. He also writes articles for web sites and magazines. He has recently had a book published called 'Fishing For Praise'.
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