Here are my final thoughts on Andrew Murray’s book Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness (Bethany House, Minneapolis, MN, 2001).
Pride comes naturally to us, but can you not see what it is doing to you? It is making you miserable. You look at other people’s social media feeds or Instagram posts and feel defeated or ugly. Comparing your every day life to their highlight reel will make you feel less than worthy. You are tired because you are keeping up a false image of who you want people to believe you are. You fear that if they really knew you, they wouldn’t want to be friends with you. The fear that if a person really knew your worst sin that you would be cast out or that you would be the source of this week’s gossip. Or maybe you fear that someone you admire would think less of you if they knew who you were.
You are also tired, because if you are giving the impression that you have this whole life thing under control you don’t need help. Yet the truth is, is that you are struggling, but are too proud to ask for help. The laundry is piling up, the kids are fighting, the floor is needing to be swept, your spouse is working an insane number of hours, you aren’t having any kind of quiet time with God, and you are running around like mad to keep up the appearance that everything is okay. When someone at church asks how you are doing, you say you are “fine” or “okay”.
In Galatians 6:2 where we are called to, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ”. That instruction is then followed by verses 3-4 “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else.”. Paul is telling us that we are to carry each other’s burdens. If you are filled with pride, you won’t be asking for other people to help you, because you want people to think you have everything under control. The only way people will know to come help you with your burden is to let them know about it. When you have humility, you may not want to confide in a friend that you need help, but you do it anyway. From what I have found over the years, people who genuinely care about you will come help you, no questions asked. It is pride that wants to keep you isolated from the ones God placed in your life to be that helpline for you. We were never meant to go through this life alone.
When you look back to Galatians 6:4b, it says “without comparing himself to anybody else”. There is a relief when you can live in humility. You stop thinking you are somebody who is earning God’s love. You are someone who has been freely given God’s love. You are a sinner who is lavished by God’s grace and you walk in that grace. You begin to realize that humility is not rational. You cannot make a chart and have humility make sense. Humility is walking in faith that God will use you for His will and the beautiful thing is that you don’t have to fully “get” humility to be able to live it. (85)
I will leave you with these final thoughts from Andrew Murray, “We shall find that the deepest humility is the secret of the truest happiness, of a joy that nothing can destroy.” (94)
Growing Hope 