Humility. Do we espouse such an important trait?
Pride, it’s polar opposite, is much easier to wield. Pride poses as a guardian, a protector with might and power. It puffs up the chest when discomfort rears its ugly head. It strikes fear in the eyes of one’s enemies. Strength, success, wisdom; there are many guises of pride. Its delusion is powerful, no doubt, as it blinds even the brightest of minds to folly. Pride. Ostensibly friendly, but one of our worst enemies.
Humility. Seemingly weak. On the surface, a trait of submission or lower standing. Soft. Meek. Lowly. Putting one’s self below another… vulnerable.
When put side-by-side, many see pride as the sharper sword. Pride gets things done, it empowers. Its swing can decimate obstacles. Yet, the Creator of all things hates pride, saying, “Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.” Pride, when befriended, produces haughty eyes. These are some of the things that our Creator despises:
There are six things that Yahuah hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among other brothers.
Proverbs 6:16-19
Pride seems to exude more confidence, yet when looking past the surface, it is those who display humility that have more self-assurance. In fact, where pride prevents growth—stifling eyes and ears to considering possible areas of misunderstanding—humility does just the opposite. Humility keeps the pathways open. Rooted in confidence and self-assurance, one who espouses humility is able to hear a message, make thoughtful considerations, and is more equipped to let go of misunderstandings that pride would never have allowed one to even consider. Pride, when put under a microscope, is proven to prevent growth, whereas humility always keeps the door open to beneficial change. Humility is open to considerations, confidently hearing, testing, and holding on to what is true and good. Do not overlook the value of humility. Watch out for the true fruit of pride.
The fact that pride closes eyes and ears, disabling one’s discernment and reason, plays a big part in why our Creator loathes it so vehemently. Not only does it keep many from even recognizing His existence, but it stifles the growth of those who believe they are His children. Put plainly, pride keeps us from hearing His voice. It puffs us up in what we think we already know. When he moves to teach us, our eyes and ears are closed by pride. The only remedy is humility.
In fact, His son made it crystal clear. We must humble ourselves like little children before Yahuah. Pride moves to prevent this from happening. Pride reminds you that you’ve experienced so much in your life, learned so much, and are well supported by the majority, too seasoned to even consider returning to the position of a child. Pride says, “becoming a child is below you.”
Pride disregards obedience, and distances itself far from it. Obedience in the eyes of pride, is weakness. Yet our Messiah moves to cut through the blindness when pride asks, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, Yahusha put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven… Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Pride asked the question, but only humility can hear and receive the answer.
Whoever humbles himself like a child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven! A glimpse of the power and standing of humility is presented. The greatest in heaven, is the humility of a child. The greatest in heaven, among the angels, is the one who takes the lowly position of a child. Think about what that means. Think back to your childhood.
As children, we knew practically nothing of this world. We were constantly learning, trying to figure out our surroundings, and picking up wisdom all around us. Think of how vulnerable children are… they easily accept lies when they are presented as truth. Pride would tell you that this is one example of the weakness of humility… the vulnerability that opens you up to lies, deceit, and error. Such is true. Humility can open one up to the dangers of accepting error. However, Yahusha is encouraging believers to open such vulnerability to the most trustworthy source: our Father, and Creator of all things. You will receive no lie or contradiction from the Creator. Only perfect wisdom. There should be no worry when opening such humble vulnerability before the Father.
Yet, we are still vulnerable to being led astray. Many believers humble themselves before their teachers, dropping their guard and accepting their wisdom regarding the Father without testing it. In other words, many believers humbly submit themselves to their preachers and teachers when they strive to honor this command to be like children before the Father. When we come into the faith, we are but children looking for answers. We were humbled, and respectfully recognize that we know little of what the Word of Yahuah teaches. Dangerously, our humility makes us vulnerable to those who desire to teach us about Scripture. We open up ourselves to the possibility of accepting a message delivered by wolves.
Yahusha knew this was and would continue to take place, and warned us again, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” He gives us a measure to test them:
You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
Matthew 7:15-20
Our Father gave us a similar warning. He told us that false teachers and prophets and dreamers of dreams would arise and try to lead his children astray from the perfect truth he gave them:
If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5
Remember, Yahusha told us to humble ourselves like children before the Most High. Sure, humility plays a role in the classroom, yet the greatest in the kingdom of heaven are instructed to humble themselves before the king of heaven—Yahuah. We should be submitting ourselves like children before Yahuah, putting his Word before us as our guide and teacher. More importantly, we should be humbling ourselves before the perfect instructions of our Heavenly Father. That is exactly what he has told us to do since the beginning. Be obedient to him. And His instructions are perfect. And that is exactly what our perfect example, Yahusha our Messiah, lived out for us to follow. The issue that many believers are facing today, just as they did under the Pharisees, is that they have been distanced from these instructions and have been blinded by personal pride and/or the pride of those to whom they submit as students.
We must correct our sight and submit ourselves as children before Yahuah. He will not lead us astray, and his instructions are perfect. In fact, his instructions are that of which a loving Father would give his children: a means to be like Him. A means to be holy as He is holy. This makes profound sense when we remember that we were made in His image. His likeness. And before sin entered the world, we did not get led astray to live contrary to Him. However, with sin in our midst, we need our Father to give us a clear-cut path. That is the Good News! Our Father did not abandon us, like many worldly fathers have. No, he is willing to walk alongside us. He has never left us. You’re ability to be able to read this is a fine example of his patience. In fact, he has given us his perfect instructions in writing, so that we may not lose them and can constantly strive to learn from them. And he encourages us to meditate on them day and night.
His instructions are not difficult; we can do them.
For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart,
so that you can do it.
Deuteronomy 30:11-14
Yahuah himself tells us that the Law of Moses is not burdensome, and that we can keep it! His instructions are not difficult. Just as his son proclaimed: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Do not let pride keep you from asking the Father for eyes to see and ears to hear his perfect instructions. Do not let pride keep your senses blocked for any longer. Let humility drive you to your knees and ask the Father, with an open heart and deep sincerity, “Squash the pride in my life. Help me be a humble child. Please, give me eyes to see and ears to hear. Help me to be the person you made me to be. Help me to walk in Yahusha’s footsteps. Help me to see the narrow path clearly. Help me to be holy as you are holy.”
We are so blessed to have such an amazing example seen in our Messiah. His life is an exact footprint on how we are called to live. He is Yahuah’s perfect instructions, lived out, exemplified in life. He is the Torah, the Law of Moses, the Law of Yahuah, in the flesh. Yahusha is the Word made flesh of whom dwelt among us. Yes! Not only did our loving Father give us perfect instructions in writing, but he gave them to us in the flesh, and the Word dwelt with us! Showed us how to live, by his example! Amen.
Sean is a former Atheist who was finally awoken to the reality of our Creator—which lead him to the one place he thought he would never step foot: “Bible College.” During his studies, our Heavenly Father flipped his Christian worldview upside down in order to reveal the Whole truth of His perfect Word. As a follower of Messiah Yahusha (Christ Jesus), Sean encourages believers to deepen their faith, seek the truth, test everything, and be willing to walk in the true image they were created: the image of the Most High and His flawless son.