The Cross and Humility

      Our training in the world teaches us to protect self, to defend it, to guard its rights, even to tastefully tout its accomplishments. God’s wisdom is entirely different. Jesus calls us to lose our lives and promises that when we lose them for him and for the Gospel, we will find them.

        It is not hard to see how this fits with humility. The man who is dying to himself will not pridefully defend his sin. He will be grateful for those who help him see it; he will decide to confess it and expose it, being confident that this will lead to encouragement for all around him.

        The woman who says “I am crucified with Christ; I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” will not be trying to prove to you how she does not need advice. She realizes that she has died (and continues to die) to her need to look competent and worthy of praise. She gives up her desire to be right and to impress others with her intelligence, wisdom or savvy. She now focuses on what will most draw attention to Jesus and what will most advance his kingdom on earth.

        The disciple who is taking up his cross and getting on it, will not be looking down upon other disciples who are not where he is spiritually. The cross of Christ will be too much on his mind to compare himself with others. He will be keenly aware of his sin, for which Christ died, including the sinful pride in his own heart that daily needs to be crucified. For him, the ground at the foot of the cross will indeed be level. If he does any comparing, it will be to see others, in humility, as better than himself (back to Philippians 2:3).