Complimentary Story
August 2026Humility and humiliation can be two very different experiences. Humility is the state of being humble. It is marked by meekness or modesty in behavior. It is the absence of arrogance and pride. Humiliation is the act of humiliating. Another person often does it and it leaves one disgraced. Isaiah 23:9 says this: “The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.”
This is speaking of God’s humiliating work. This is illustrated vividly in the life of Haman. He was next in authority to the king and hated Mordecai who refused to bow to him. Almost before he could comprehend what happened, he was leading Mordecai though the streets on the king’s horse and giving acclaim to him. This was not just a little stain on Haman’s pride, it was contempt heaped on his honor. Read the book of Esther for the full story. God does this type of thing in His humiliations of men.
We are commanded to humble ourselves. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.” (James 4:10). “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 18:4).
When we humble ourselves, we believe what God says about us. “There is none righteous, no not one.” (Romans 3:10) This is probably a quote from Palms 14:3, “there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” When we allow this truth to settle into our heart, it enables us to esteem others better than ourselves as Paul admonishes us. “Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” (Philippians 2:3).
No man is truly humble and for that reason, he must humble himself. This is what we do when we repent. We own our sinful state. We are very sorry. We humble ourselves by confessing our sins. We do not try to make ourselves look good. Those who do not truly repent try to make themselves to look not too bad. They are bad, yes, but not bad like others. They have not seen the Lord “high and lifted up” like Isaiah saw Him. See Isaiah 6:1-5. They have not seen the Lord like Job saw Him. “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6). The low view of God among those who call themselves Christians spawns all kinds of sins: worldliness, carnality of every sort, divisions, selfishness, to name just a few.
Human pride is a sin we all need to deal with. Pride is at the root of many human relationship problems. Human humiliations are real life issues as well. It is in these humiliations that we encounter so much hurt. Where we in our pride are unwilling to acknowledge our personal need, humiliations hurt. They hurt deeply and out of these deep hurts come bitterness. With all our knowledge of Bible verses, Satan can furnish us with “Scriptural” reasons to cling to our pride. When we humble ourselves and become as little children, we freely forgive injuries from humiliations. We can see the value of humiliations and truly thank God that He does not leave us to the destructive forces of our own pride.
“A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.” (Proverbs 29:23).
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