Jesus, humble of heart, gives us Humility 101 when he tells the parable about choosing places of honor at a wedding banquet (Luke 14:1-14). In this parable we are taught that humility is an essential virtue for one who wants to follow Jesus. As Christians, we must accept that we are not always as holy and good as we intend, and that instead of our own puffery, we leave the reward up to God.
Humility is important to Christian life but it is often unappreciated and misunderstood. In a world where success and prestige are highly admired, humility is equated to putting ourselves down or being weak. Yet, humility is about acknowledging our strengths and weaknesses in a realistic way. We possess gifts and talents but part of humility is knowing that these qualities come from God. We also need to learn that humility is not a weakness, as it takes strength to truly be humble. You need to be strong to choose to put other people ahead of yourself. Likewise, it takes strength to suffer rebukes and to do good deeds without searching for a reward.
Jesus just didn’t teach Humility 101, he lived it. He gave us example to follow (Matthew 11:29, Matthew 20:27-28, Matthew 21:5, Mark 10:45, John 13:3-15). Jesus lived in a way that shows us that humility asks that we treat people with respect, honor, and love. Let us learn the lesson well.
