Humility is self-awareness,awareness of our fallibility, awareness of our human proclivities and our need for salvation.And salvation embodies a profound understanding of the human condition and our inherent struggles. It acknowledges that as humans, we often find ourselves trapped in patterns of self-destructive behaviour, misguided desires, and harmful tendencies. Whether it be our tendency toward selfishness, pride, greed, and the likes.
Recognising the need for salvation begins with humility, a humble acknowledgment that we are not perfect beings and that we are susceptible to making mistakes. It is through this humility that we become aware of the limitations of our own efforts and the realisation that we cannot overcome these challenges alone. Hence, the need to turn to a higher power, acknowledging that there is a greater source of wisdom, strength, and love beyond ourselves. God possesses the ability to truly save and transform us.
It is not enough to simply acknowledge our need for salvation; we must also actively respond to it. This response involves obedience to the teachings and commandments of God.
You see, when we obey, we surrender our wills to the authority to whom we obey, we recognise our place before this authority and very importantly we recognise the authority’s ability to provide righteous guidance. Whether we yield to our own selves by being our own supreme authority or whether we yield to our God, is a choice that we have to make every day of our lives. The fascinating thing is this, obeying God is to our own advantage. Because it helps our course to win the battle of life, it sets us up to be able to live peaceably with all men, it eradicates envy from our lives, it breeds joy, peace, understanding, empathy and all other virtues.
To obey God, we must follow his guiding principles and procedures or should I say standard operating procedure. And that can be found in the bible, which provides a guide to life, a guide for character reformation and character building, a guide to social interaction and family life.
The perfect case for one who obeyed God and the consequences of that obedience is Jesus Christ. We see in Jesus Christ one who surrendered his will and obeyed God to the point of death. One might think that because he died in this context, that that is a negative consequence of obedience. But it is not; you see, all humans will die, but how we die matters, what we do before we die matters. Death on the cross for Jesus was the will of God for him, it was difficult, grueling, shameful, it was extremely painful to go through that, but it was already written and agreed for that to happen in order to bring about a once and for all sacrifice for sins and a path to salvation for mankind. See what the bible says about Jesus’ humility and obedience:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:8 – 11
As a consequence of his obedience, Jesus Christ inherited a name that is above every name, a name that all powers in heaven and on earth are subject to; he was crowned with glory; therefore serving as an example unto us today. Oh that we may be humble ourselves so that we can truly yield our hearts to God being aware of our frailty and fallibility, that God may use us to the glory of his name. Because, the process of salvation is a journey of self-awareness, humility, surrender, and obedience. It is a recognition that we cannot save ourselves solely through our own efforts, but rather through a partnership with a higher power. By embracing this partnership and allowing the divine influence to guide us, we can transcend our inherent human tendencies and live a life that reflects the qualities of goodness, righteousness, and love.
Made Perfect In Weakness 