Humility promotes – Thursday, 11 January

“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”
2 Timothy 2:1-2 KJV

“Who shall be able to teach other also” is an important characteristic to look for in potential leadership. “Shall be” reveals that they may not be able to teach right now, but they should have the humility to learn (being teachable). It’s wise to consider faithfulness and humility when appointing people to positions of influence and giving them more responsibility. Ability can be taught and learnt, but character takes time to develop and it’s not guaranteed. We should all be humble enough to recognize that we don’t know everything, and then we should be humble enough to learn from others.  

Here is the truth about gifts:
“Gifts can open many doors and help you meet important people.”
Proverbs 18:16 ERV

Your gifting will open doors for you and can set you up with important people. If you become excellent in your ability and become renowned for it, it will open doors of opportunity for you, but you need character to sustain you where gifting will take you. Your gift makes room for you, but your character keeps you there.

I’ve had many people come to me and either hint or simply ask for an opportunity to preach. Most of them were gifted teachers, passionate about the Word and knew their Bibles. But that is not enough. You don’t just want a good orator behind the pulpit – you want someone who lives it; someone who has character. At our church we tend to be very slow in putting anyone into leadership or a position of influence (like the pulpit). The Bible says to know those who labour among you (1 Thessalonians 5:12) and so it’s important that we come to know people (which takes time) before we allow them places of influence. In our church, potential leaders need to serve faithfully for a period of time – I always invite them to come help pack out chairs before church. If serving is beneath them, leadership is beyond them!

It’s not about being perfect – if that were the case, no one would make it! God isn’t looking to use silver vessels but surrendered vessels. One of the most important aspects of character is humility: not thinking more highly (or too lowly) of yourself than you should. Humility is about yielding to the Lord and His will, admitting that He knows best, and following His lead.

As we follow His lead and surrender to our wills to His, He will shape us to become men and women of character. All God needs is a humble heart. Pride prevents you from reaching your potential and walking in your destiny. Pride is being more focused on self than on God or others. It’s not being teachable and willing to learn because we think that we know it all (or have heard this before).

“…God opposes the proud but favours the humble.”
James 4:6 NLT

When we lift ourselves up (promote ourselves) we don’t experience God’s lifting (or promotion); but when we humble ourselves, God lifts us up. Pride is a certain roadblock to growing in God-given influence and living out your destiny. But when we humble ourselves before God and have an attitude of “not my will but yours, Lord”, we experience the favour of God. Humility is something you have to choose for yourself; it’s an attitude of heart which releases the favour of God in your life. It brings promotion and success and causes you to walk in your destiny.