The biblical teaching on humility is obvious in many places, but it is not seen as clearly in all the Scriptures as the prominent place it truly has. It is my view that there is a spiritual understanding of Scripture and this spiritual understanding would include things like humility. Part of the world values humility but they don’t see it for what it truly is. A correlating truth with humility is that of the God-centered God of Scripture. Scripture is girded and intertwined with the glory and beauty of a God that loves Himself within the Trinity and does all things to His own glory. A person that has not been humbled to some degree in accordance with Scripture will not see either truth in its beauty and glory. We speak of spiritual truth and at times don’t realize that spiritual truth is always related to the Holy Spirit. The two correlating truths that we must grab tightly and not let go are: 1) the God-centered God that Scripture drips with the glory of all through it and 2) the humility that human beings must have as creatures, sinners, and perhaps saints. These two core truths are woven throughout Scripture whether they are openly discussed or not.
True and biblical humility has to do with the emptiness of the human soul of self-centeredness, self-love, and pride on what it does not have and then the life of Christ in the soul in terms of the positive life of it. Until the soul has been turned from its pride and self-centeredness, regardless of how religious it is and how many church functions it does or attends, it is locked into itself and does not serve God in other than name only. An unhumbled soul is full of self and will do many things for God in name, but the heart of that soul will do nothing but serve self. The unhumbled self will read Scripture and see it as all about itself and perhaps the things it must do, but the humbled soul sees the glory of God in Scripture and of what He must do.
“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.13 For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col 1:9-13).
This passage of Scripture sets out some basic truths that are both God-centered and require humility. In verse 9 Paul starts off telling the people that he is praying for them and what he is praying for. He is praying that the people will be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. While one may think that a cursory reading of Scripture is enough to find out the will of God, that is not what Paul says here. Paul labors in unceasing prayer that the people would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. But, as he goes on to say at the very least by implication, it is not just any will of God that he prays for. He prays for the knowledge of the will of God that comes in spiritual wisdom and understanding. Where does spiritual wisdom and understanding come from? Is it what a professor has in a scholarly study of the Bible?
What does Scripture teach us on this issue?
“For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (I Cor 1:18-20).
From the text above we see a wisdom of the world and a wisdom of God. The wisdom of God has made the world’s wisdom utter foolishness. The cross itself is foolishness to the world, but to those who have the wisdom of God they see the very power, glory, and wisdom of God at the cross. The same thing is true of Scripture as a whole. The Gospel itself is hidden to those who are perishing (II Cor 4:3). We have the hidden wisdom of God (I Cor 2:7) which those of this world do not understand. Is it because believers are smarter or wiser? No, it is because God shows the humble Himself and His ways. The very glory of the only God who is a God-centered God shines when people are humbled from seeing their own glory and are then enabled by His grace to see their own pride and His glory. It is a spiritual wisdom since it comes from the Spirit.
God Loves... Himself 
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