Humility

Humility is a character trait that God desires to see in all of us. We are called to show humility by valuing others above ourselves rather than doing things out of our own selfish ambition (Philippians 2:3). But humility is not something that comes easily to many of us in this world where we are taught to value ourselves above others.

How can we develop humility? One way in which to develop a desired character trait is through a mentor who consistently demonstrates that trait. The dictionary definition of a mentor is “a wise and trusted counselor or teacher.” When it comes to learning how to demonstrate humility, there is no better mentor than Jesus. He certainly fits the definition! He is truly a wise and trusted counselor and teacher. He is also the greatest example of humility that there is.

As we read in Philippians 2:3, humility is shown by valuing others more than we value ourselves. Jesus demonstrated His humility in many ways, but His greatest demonstration of humility came when He gave His life on the cross of Calvary. Jesus could have avoided that cross. He could have walked away from it. In the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night before He walked to that cross, He cried out to the Father asking Him to take the cross away. He didn’t wait for an answer to His question, but instead said, “Not My will but Yours be done.” Why did He do that? Because He valued all of us over Himself and was even willing to die for us.

We should look to Jesus to be our mentor as we seek to develop humility. For a mentoring relationship to work, the person being mentored needs to spend time with the mentor. If Jesus is to be our mentor for humility, we need to spend time with Him. We need to talk to Him and we need to learn about Him by spending time in His Word. When we do, He will show us the way to demonstrating true humility.