Virtues over Vices - Humility

 

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. The rich and the poor meet together; the LORD is the Maker of them all. The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life. (Proverbs 22:1–4 ESV).

 

As we continue our look into “Virtues over Vices,” we come to the words of Solomon in Proverbs 22. The rewards promised in our reading today are expanded for us clearly. It is important to note that avoiding pride is not enough. We need to lean away from it and become humble. Ezra Taft Benson wrote, “Pride is concerned with who is right; humility is concerned with what is right. Humility does not mean weakness. It does not mean timidity. It does not mean fear. A man can be humble and fearless. A man can be humble and courageous."

 

I have also read this anonymous quote that states: "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking about yourself less". Humility is selfless not selfish. In fact, I believe that humility is being authentic without any pretense or arrogance. It is really about being true to yourself and knowing your limitations, from the inside out.

God makes both the rich and the poor (v. 2). In this context, “rich” does not refer to having an extravagant life. Having riches, or wealth, means that when we are doing God’s work—that is, living God’s way—we can count on receiving everything we truly need to keep going.

 

And wealth isn’t the most important reward. Honor, a good name, is more desirable than great riches (v. 1). By humbly following God, we gain the respect of other good people, and we probably gain some respect from some not-so-great people also. The most reliable reward of humbly following God is life itself. When we are humble enough to rely on God’s direction, it is amazing how many pitfalls we avoid. We avoid the problems that pride falsely teaches that we can handle ourselves.

 

When we are humble, we are amazed how often God helps us avoid trouble that we didn’t even see coming. When we are humble and we see or hear of someone’s folly leading to ruin, we learn to say, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” Strive to develop your humility that it may overtake and replace the natural tendency of our sin nature to be prideful and arrogant. That is the way to a “good name”!