The Humility of Jesus
“[Jesus] made himself nothing”
Philippians 2:7 NIV
According to Scripture, pride is insidious and often motivates us to selfish, sinful pursuits. It’s a common sin, and one that we’re slow to recognize. It easily deceives us.
“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’“ (Obadiah 1:3 NIV)
Do we consider ourselves to be wonderful, capable, and able to achieve anything we desire? If so, pride has gotten a foothold into our lives.
God hates pride. He makes it clear in Proverbs 16:18, “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.“ (NIV)
If I think of myself as great and accomplished, I’m tempted to think that I deserve more than I get. More praise, for example.
On the other hand, God loves humility. He makes that clear in James 4:10, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.“ (NIV)
In our verse for today, we read that Jesus “made himself nothing”.
He humbled Himself.
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature a God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.“ Philippians 2:5-7 (NIV)
By this the writer is speaking of how Jesus gave up all His rights in heaven and entered His own creation, assuming the limitations He had never experienced before, lived in poverty, never attended prestigious institutions of higher learning, never wrote a world famous book, associated primarily with the lower classes of society, allowed Himself to be lied about and framed on false charges in court, was denied basic human rights of His day, submitted to savage physical torment, and lived his life without even a bed to sleep on.
That’s humility of the first order.
Jesus willingly submitted to all of this in order to redeem a people for Himself. He forsook all of His prerogatives in heaven so that He might purchase salvation for us.
This is love on the grandest scale.
Had Jesus been proud, He wouldn’t have allowed Himself to be humiliated as He did for sinners. He “made himself nothing” so that we might be something—something He would treasure forever.
Are you still desiring a better life, more than others around you, more than you have now? Do you feel you “deserve” more?
Your life indeed may be filled with sorrow and pain. But remember that Jesus had it all and gave it up to make a nation of people who would treasure Him above anything (or anyone) else. Can you be satisfied to have Jesus—supposing it means you lose all else that this life offers?