Why should we be humble?

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Owen Lynch:

What did I like about today’s passage?

I have said, during the boxset series on Paul, that, prior to encountering Jesus, he had received the best education, spoke several languages fluently, was a gifted artisan, a Roman citizen, and highly regarded Jew and, most likely, inherited family wealth. It is interesting, then, that in these chapters Paul describes himself as like a common earthenware jar of clay - probably one of the most ordinary and insignificant items you could buy - they were probably ‘ten a penny’, so to speak.

We know that the Corinthians had lost confidence in Paul as a leader. By this stage he was poor, he was homeless (we’d call him a sofa-surfer), under constant criticism by well-regarded public figures and in person he wasn’t even particularly impressive either.

But Paul turns his apparent weaknesses upside down and argues that God’s glory is all the more visible because Paul’s ego is less visible. For Paul, nothing is more important than Jesus being revealed to the Corinthians and if his weaknesses allow this, then all the better! Paul recognises his job is not to be impressive but to point the Corinthians to Jesus, who is much more impressive. That’s a pretty cool thing for a leader to do and reflects Paul’s humility.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

It reminds me that humility is in God’s nature and therefore is also part of human nature. I’m reminded of Paul’s letter to the Philippians chapter 2, where he says Christ Jesus, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage, rather he made himself nothing.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

If humility is part of our human nature because we are made in God’s image, then I am going to remember that every time I feel like promoting myself. I’m going to ask myself why I need to make myself look better in the eyes of other people.

Who am I going to share this with?

I’m going to share this with my colleagues at work and encourage us all to ask ourselves the same question.