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Did you know that being a truly humble person will improve your relationships on and off the job? And furthermore, if you’re truly humble, you’ll be much more contented and joyful.
You may not think of highly successful people as humble people, but if they are successful in their relationships, then no doubt they are displaying characteristics of a humble person. We’ve looked at Tom Holladay’s description of true humility from his book, The Relationship Principles of Jesus. So far we’ve seen that:
Humility is not thinking less of myself; it is thinking more of others.
Humility is not putting myself down; it is lifting God up.
Humility is not denying my strengths; it is being openly honest about my weaknesses.
And here’s one more:
Humility is seeing that without Christ I can do nothing, but in Christ I can do all things.
In John 15:5 Jesus said: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” And Paul wrote to the Philippians: “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).
True humility comes to understand that as a believer and a Jesus-follower, you are totally dependent on his power in you to do anything of eternal significance. You can do nothing unless and until you’re abiding in the vine, Jesus Christ, and depending on his life to flow through you to others. But when his life is giving you strength, through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within each believer, then you are empowered to do everything that God has planned for you to do.
I encourage you to pray regularly that God will help you to humble yourself; help you to know what true humility looks like in your life and help you to grow more and more in true humility.