The Humility of God

The last few days my reading has focused on the humility of God.

It is common for many Christians to think of God as majestic, lofty, and mighty. It is easy to think of God as being beyond human understanding; to be totally other. We think of God as being transcendent: above and beyond.

For followers of Jesus who have this high view of God it is challenging to think of the words, God, and, humility, in the same sentence. Yet, the Christian view of God does make this audacious claim that God is humble.

There is a Biblical precedent for thinking of God’s humility. It is found in St. Paul’s writing to the church in Philippi:

“…   he (Jesus) humbled himself

    by becoming obedient to death—

        even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:8.

While many followers of Jesus are accepting of Jesus humbling himself; it is another thing to think of God humbling self. This is an interesting problem because most followers of Jesus would not believe they are Gnostics.  Orthodox worshippers of God believe that Jesus was fully human and fully God.

What would it mean for you and me to embrace God’s humility?

For myself, embracing the humility of God means humbling myself. If God would humble himself for me, I do not have any reason to take pride in myself. The humility of God will lead me to bow my mind and heart not because of God’s greatness but because of God’s love for me which lead God to be humble for me.

Ronald Friesen © 2016