Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.
We are called to reflect God to anyone and everyone we meet. We are to show God, show Jesus Christ, through our attitudes, actions, and life. God is generous, so we are to be as well. God is love so we are to be as well. God is life, and joy, and righteousness… and so must we be. However, this does not always work. Sometimes God is simply so different from us that we cannot reflect that aspect of Him. Today’s proverbs contain one of those times.
One of the most important traits of the Christian is humility. The proverbs talk about it, Paul talks about it, Jesus talks about it. It is not a trait of God’s, for He is All and has no need for humility. Or does He?
One person has defined humility unlike any other. Rather than the usual thought of humility as self-debasement – “I’m not even worthy to untie His sandal!” – he defined humility as a right understanding of our place in the universe. To be humble was to recognize our strengths and weaknesses, but most importantly where they come from. God gives all good gifts, and so humility is recognizing God’s authority. In relation to Him, all people are equal, so humility is also an understanding that we are not better (nor worse) than others but all stand humbled together before God’s greatness.
“Humility is the fear of the Lord,” the recognition of who and how much He is. “It’s wages are riches and honor and life,” because only through that right understanding of our place in the world are we prepared to receive these gifts from God, and truly riches, honor, and life are God’s gifts to us.
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