Salvation: A Journey of Humility and Self-awareness

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.

The Mystery and Power of Shame

Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion typically associated with a negative evaluation of the self, withdrawal motivations, and feelings of distress, exposure, mistrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness.

To be ashamed, a self-evaluation or perhaps a situational evaluation takes place subconsciously. And Psychologists say that there are five factors that make people feel ashamed; (1) self-awareness, (2) self-blame, (3) self-esteem (4) personal trait and (5) standards. All the factors relate to how the individual sees himself. The fifth factor, standards is especially interesting, as it relates to a person’s belief about acceptable standard concerning actions, thoughts, and feelings. It will be particularly useful to look at this fifth factor. Standards particularly concern how we perceive the norms of our society and culture. And what is acceptable in one culture greatly differs from another and there lies the conundrum especially in a global society. As an example, what may be considered acceptable in one culture may greatly be frowned at in others. But then, if someone’s action is not acceptable in a culture, then there is a trigger for shame. For example, at funerals, we know that laughing, expressing joy, and feeling glad that the person is dead are not the norm. So, if one expresses joy, such person will witness the disapproval of others around.

The emotion of shame can be a powerful tool though. Societies have used it as ammunition. Ammunition which helps to correct wrongful acts. So, the popular phrase, name, and shame seek to show the undesirable nature of any deviant behaviour or action. Feeling ashamed could also lead to remorse which often leads to repentance and correction.

Little wonder then that the saviour of the world had to go through a shameful death. A type of death that was meant to make a statement, to shape society; to punish wrongdoing hence discouraging it. Death on the cross was considered a curse but nevertheless, the Lord chose to die such death. He had to be humiliated not because it was a fun thing to bear but because of the mystery and power therein. It is ironic and indeed mysterious how his death brought about salvation.

The apostle Paul said,

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes:…” Rom 1:16

Paul had every reason to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ especially given its nature and how it came about. The gospel is the good news about the story of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Good news coming from shame? Given the nature of the death, it might be a shameful thing for anyone to think that anything good can come from someone who died with criminals. Paul had reasons to be ashamed of the gospel because he also vehemently refuted it to the point of killing those who preached it. He had a reason to be ashamed because it does not make sense from the natural point of view. That someone, Jesus Christ, if he was the messiah and had the power to rise from the death could have chosen not to be killed in the first place. Why get yourself killed in the most shameful execution when you had the power to stop it from happening? It does not make sense. Why give yourself over to be maimed and shamed when you could have chosen a more noble approach? Why should someone believe such a story?

You see, the story does not seem logical at all. Therefore, it is hard to explain to a neutral mind how such a thing can be. It seems like foolishness; even the bible admits that God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wisdom of the wise. The gospel message is foolishness to those who are wise in the world. God chose a shameful act, through which his mystery and power can be made manifest. In doing so, you might say he made the lives of his followers difficult. You might think it makes Christianity hard to sell. And yes, while it might not make sense in the natural, it makes perfect sense to the ones who are saved. Because, the power to raise someone from the dead after three days is much greater than that of saving him from the dead on the cross. Therefore, it had to take the shameful route in order to confound the wise. And the death was a sacrifice for the sins of the world, sins yet to be committed. And it served as a ticket unto salvation.

The shameful death makes perfect sense. It shattered the standards of society, standards that demand perfection. It showed mercy, mercy in place of judgement. It showed grace to cover all sins. It showed weakness that became power; it turned sickness into healing, pain into relief, mourning into laughter. The mystery of the shame on the cross is that of ironies. Ironies that paints everlasting pictures of who God is and what he would do for love. The mystery of the shameful cross is revealed in the power of resurrection to which every believer can have hope. Hope for mercy and eternal life, strength and of course a share of that same power (Rom 8:11).