Grace to the Humble

For Scripture number 10 (and these are not in any order of importance), I have 1 Peter 5:5:

Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 

Thirteen years ago, I wrote about this text in The Prideful Soul’s Guide to Humility, and I still have deep conviction about what I said.

Passage after passage in the Scriptures make it clear that humility is the way to God’s heart. The proud find the door closed to his inner sanctum, but those who demonstrate humility are welcomed there again and again. By some measures of performance the former group may outshine the latter, but never mind. God does not receive us on the basis of performance. He receives us on the basis of heart, and no quality of heart is more important to him than humility.

There is nothing more important for a disciple of Jesus than humility. We are not overstating the case to say that we will not be in the kingdom of God at all if we do not heartily embrace the words in this text.

You can be successful with God without being highly intelligent, quick with your wit, clever in business, outstanding in appearance or skillful in athletics (praise God!). But you cannot be successful with God without humility. God can work in your life in remarkable ways even if you do not have great conversation skills, a naturally winsome personality or a quick recall of facts. But remarkably, you will not be in his kingdom at all without humility.

Yes, God promises to bless humility. This clearly means it is something he wants us to pursue. The nature of humility, however, is such that we will never be able to stand at its summit, like victorious climbers, and proclaim that we have arrived. The more we pursue it, the more aware we will be that we need it. The reward for this quest never comes in achievement. The reward for pursuing humility is found in the fact that it draws us ever closer to the heart of God—the very place for which we were made.