Humble Heart

I used to love how my grandmother (aka “Mammie”) said the word humble. She made the “h” silent and it sounded like “umble”.  She was a great example of humble. (Side Note: It’s ok to mispronounce a word like that if you display it in your life!) I had a hard time imagining her to be frustrated or angry, because when I was around, she was always so calm and overflowing with wise words.  Many of her children and grandchildren also display a humble heart.  I believe humility is a learned skill. It starts with how we see God. I think He really wired us to be humble. The opposite of humility is pride. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that all sin comes from pride. Pride is the number one tool of the enemy to destroy a good person.  I think pride is something that every human being battle’s with. It is really more obvious in some than others.

King David is now at peace with his enemies on all sides. He is a strong powerful leader. The Lord has raised him up from a shepherd boy to a warrior king. David asked the Lord to let him build a home for the Ark of the Covenant – a temple. The Lord loved David’s heart but declined his offer and assured him that he would have a dynasty of sorts and his son would build a Temple. After David received this news, I love how he pour out his humble heart before the Lord in Thanks. Check this out….

¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed,

“Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? ¹⁹ And now, Sovereign Lord, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign Lord?

²⁰ “What more can I say to you? You know what your servant is really like, Sovereign Lord. ²¹ Because of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known to your servant. (2 Samuel 7:18-21 NLT)

It’s hard to imagine David as this mighty warrior king, but he was. He simply had a humble heart before the Lord. I imagine David was a great king to serve under. His prayer of thanks is absolutely dripping with humility. We see his heart in so many of the Psalms that he penned.

I think one of the most advantageous traits of a leader is humility. It’s important to remember where you came from and how you became a leader. Humility is a Christ-like trait that is very attractive in every person. Pride and arrogance are very unattractive traits for a leader to possess. Humility comes from a decision to not think more of yourself than you ought. It’s about putting others first and serving them. It’s about not thinking “woe is me”, it’s about pointing to the greatness of God and how He is Lord over every area of my life.  I think it’s a mistake to think that a humble leader is a “push-over”. Just because a leader is humble, doesn’t mean he can’t lead. He just leads from a place of surrender to the Lord, but the humble leader isn’t a “door mat”.  Leaders with a humble heart have a deep faith in the Lord for His leadership in their lives.

Pressing On!

Dwayne