Humility before God

How do you see yourself? Do you compare yourself to the LORD or would you more likely compare yourself to that guy who just cut you off in traffic, someone obviously a sinner? Do you ever see others as less deserving than you, maybe that person pulling into the parking space closer to your destination and now you have to park farther away?

All too often our points of comparison are against others we see with magnified flaws. Now, we justify ourselves as ‘not as bad as’ rather than against the holy God. It is always best when comparing one’s self to choose the lesser than the Greater. We want to be like the Pharisee:

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ ¹

Certainly we would never begin praying to God with that pious ‘I thank God I’m not like others’ for we know that as repenting disciples we are like others but for the redemption of Jesus on our behalf. We have nothing to be proud of before God for He made the way back to Himself and He drew us to Himself by the Holy Spirit. But, isn’t it amazing how quickly we may discover ourselves measuring our relationship with God against those ‘others’ who may have more apparent flaws compared to ours that we hide even from ourselves?

Then we have the unlikely model of the repentant seeker of God:

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” ²

The man with nothing commendable other than coming to God in humility and openly expressing his need for what only God could provide is the one God welcomes for he comes on God’s term rather than his own. The Pharisee thought he could save himself but the tax collector—and all the rest of us—knew we could not except for the mercy of God extended toward us in Jesus. It is then in the wisdom of God that the humble become the exalted before God. Thank you, Jesus!