Humility is a quality of the highest value to both God and people, yet humiliation is something to avoid like the plague.
So what is humility, and how is it different?
I have heard many good definitions for the word. Humility is NOT humiliation, which is a forced and usually painful lowering of one’s standing or social position through some embarrassing mistake, revelation, or misfortune. The very unhappy experience of humiliation may LEAD to humility, but that would, perhaps, be its only positive by-product.
For our purposes, humility can be regarded as a healthy appreciation of our place in the world, both in the eyes of God and in relation to each other. Humility is not putting ourselves down, or belittling our accomplishments. Rather, it is recognizing and appreciating our ongoing need for God’s love, care, and favor in our lives, and that as a person, we are no better or no worse than any other person in God’s world.
Jesus is our best example of humility, laying down his life for us on a cross. As He told the crowd:
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:29 (NASB)
When all else fails to bring a sense of humility into our lives, God may resort to using a dose of humiliation to help produce it.
In the book of Daniel, chapter 5, the prophet was called before the Co-Regent Belshazzar to explain the mysterious writing on the wall, left by a frightening, disembodied hand. Daniel first reminded Belshazzar that King Nebuchadnezzar before him had gone through a humiliating experience sent from God. Due to his excessive pride and faithlessness after being so blessed by the Lord, Nebuchadnezzar was forced to live among the wild animals for seven years before finally coming to his senses and gaining a true sense of humility. When he finally acknowledged God’s sovereignty and goodness in his life, he was restored to his kingly position and throne. Yet Belshazzar mocked God, and reveled using holy articles taken from God’s temple in Jerusalem.
22 Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, 23 but you have risen up against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives, and your concubines have been drinking wine out of them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see, nor hear, nor understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways, you have not glorified. 24 Then the hand was sent from Him and this inscription was written out. Daniel 5:22-24 (NASB)
Now, decades after Nebuchadnezzar, it was Belshazzar’s turn to face God’s judgment. And his would not end as well.
Daniel went on to explain the writing on the wall:
25 “Now this is the inscription that was written:
‘Menē, Menē, Tekēl, Upharsin.’
26 This is the interpretation of the message: ‘Menē’—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. 27 ‘Tekēl’—you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. 28 ‘Perēs’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” Daniel 5:25-28 (NASB)
29 Then Belshazzar gave orders, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck, and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now had authority as the third ruler in the kingdom. Daniel 5:29 (NASB)
Despite Belshazzar’s great appreciation for Daniel in clearing up the mystery, God’s time was at hand for the transition from the faltering Babylonian empire to the rising Medo-Persian empire. The head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2 was coming to an end, and the chest and arms of silver were about to take over. King Cyrus had united the Medes and the Persians, and now his sub-king, Darius, had his armies in wait outside Babylon, looking for a way to enter into the city. They found a way in that night by diverting a portion of the river that ran beneath the wall, and entering through the now-exposed tunnel.
30 That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. 31 So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two. Daniel 5:29-30 (NASB)
God’s judgment of Belshazzar was severe. Unlike King Nebuchadnezzar before him, there would be no restoration to the throne this time around. Belshazzar had insulted the Lord in just about every possible way, and God’s patience ran out for both him and his empire.
God IS very patient and long suffering with each one of us, wanting everyone to come to repentance and to be saved. But if we pridefully taunt Him with a hardened heart, act with sacrilege day after day, and continually reject His generous offer of love and forgiveness, we may one day find ourselves near the end of our own rope and in such a desperate situation. The time is now for spiritual clarity and humility, recognizing our true place in God’s universe and our dependence upon Him. When we realize that God is in charge, not us, that His power and love are real, and that He is for us, not against us, we can still turn to the Him, even from such a dangerous place as this.
Nebuchadnezzar’s story of correction and redemption is a testimony to the great lengths God will go to for our salvation. Are we willing to turn to Him in our hour of trial? If so, choose humility, not humiliation.
Reflection
How am I practicing humility today?
How can I give more credit and honor to the Lord, the true source of my successes in life?
Lord Jesus, You are so good and the source of all blessing and favor in my life. I am so grateful for all that You have done for me, even dying on a cross so that I may be cleansed and able to experience an eternal life with You. Help me to walk closer with You and to reflect Your divine humility to all around me. We ask this in Your name, Amen.
Have a blessed and beautiful day walking with the Lord today.
Daily Meditations from the Genealogy of Jesus 