The Bible is not a book full of clever maxims, helpful suggestions, or do’s and don’ts—it is the book of LIFE! As such, its many principles and paradoxes challenge our human thinking: when we give, we receive; when we lose ourselves, we find ourselves; to be rich, we must become poor; exalting ourselves, we’ll be humbled, but humbling ourselves, we’ll be exalted.

God longs to fill us and be part of all we do, all we are, and all we become, but His hands are tied if we’re hanging on to our human pride. When we think our ways are better than His and fail to lay down our preconceived ideas and rationalizations rather than accept His truth, He can’t go to work. Relying solely on intellect, talents, relationships, possessions, or wealth to make it through life fails to put us in a position to receive the fulness of grace, peace, and blessing He longs to give us.

The solution? Humility.

Humility is a characteristic God values highly, because He knows He can work with those of a humble heart. Only when we recognize the poverty of our own souls do we realize our desperate need for a Savior.

There’s a wonderful peace when we can honestly approach God, life, and one another with humility. Humility isn’t denying your strengths; it’s being honest about your weaknesses. Humble servants of God recognize that by themselves they can do nothing. Their strength and enablement come from Him alone.

In one of his writings, well-known South African pastor Andrew Murray (1828-1917) describes the Christian heart of humility and the wonderful peace it brings to the soul:

Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble.

Are there areas in your life in which pride still has you holding on to the reins? Perhaps it’s time to release them into the Master’s hands.

“And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  (1 Peter 5:5 NLT)

With open arms He’s standing ready to shower your life with grace, to give you perfect quietness of heart, and to fill you with His peace “when all around and above is trouble.”

God values humility.

Copyright © 2020 Cheryl Elton

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This morning while reading a section on humility in The Imitation of Christ, an interesting question came to mind: 

If Jesus was physically here on earth today, would He be on Facebook?

If so, would a typical post look like this?

Jesus Christ

Great day sharing a lunch with 5,000 people at Bethsaida.

Would the Son of God have His phone in hand taking a selfie while walking across the water—to later post it on social media?

Somehow I have a hard time picturing Jesus doing either of these things.

Why?

Because the life of Christ supremely embodied humility. His words and actions pointed exclusively to glorifying God, not Himself.

In the aforementioned book, Thomas à Kempis says the more knowledge and experience we gain, the more severely we will be judged—unless we live a holy life. Why would we want to lift ourselves above another person, when we may find they know more than we do? 

“To know and learn anything that is helpful,” à Kempis says, “be content to be unknown and not respected.” 

This mirrors the message of Philippians 2:5-11:

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

So would Jesus be on Facebook?

He certainly was engaged in the culture and practices of the day to reach people, so I wouldn’t rule it out. Social media affords us a tool like never before to connect with people across the world. Perhaps He would use it to help the poor, or occasionally post a photo to share with His mother and siblings.

But I think He would post things judiciously, seeking solely to glorify God and bring awareness to His purposes.

Jesus would no doubt have millions of friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter, yet it’s hard to picture Him spending hours a day sharing, reading, commenting, and tweeting. I somehow think He’d be too busy sharing His life with people one on one in real time.

Jesus wasn’t interested in communicating with thousands, or growing a personal fan base. He also wasn’t one for small talk. Rather, His life focused on intimate personal relationships, and ministering to individuals. He allowed God to work through Him, to receive the glory in all things.

As Christians, shouldn’t we do the same?

Would Jesus be on Facebook?

What do you think?

Copyright © 2016 Cheryl Elton

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