Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5).
How can humility be a conduit of grace for us – and others? That depends on how you define humility. Humility is often not prized in our culture because it is confused with shyness or backing down, making it hard to understand it as a powerful force for God.
Humility is a combination of two things: confessing our need of God and prioritizing the purposes of God. When people are willing to put the Lord’s interests above their own and confess that they will need God’s help to do that, then honoring God has become their focus.
God has no greater priority than his own glory – so that his will would be done and his goodness would be shared. So, when true humility is present, so is God. His attention, power, and grace flow through the conduit for his glory that our humility supplies.
Remember Jesus’ greatest achievement was not done with pomp and circumstance, but with the humble offering of his life for us. His perfect humility was the greatest conduit for God’s glory and grace the world has ever known.
Others have said that there is no limit to what God can do, if it doesn’t matter which of us gets the credit. There is no limit to the glory Christ can receive, when we confess the grace we require to do his will and to receive his mercy when we don’t.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for demonstrating what it means to be humble through your servant life and sacrificial death. Help me today to put your interests above my own so that I may be a conduit of your glory flowing into this world.