So Joshua asked me, his willing grandpa, as a longtime student of the bible, to provide a few thoughts on humility, which I was most pleased to do!

In choosing humility as a topic on which to speak, I believe that Joshua was, truly, inspired by Yehovaw! For, according to Yehovaw's words through Yeshuaw, humility is one of the strongest attributes of a righteous man or woman! He said, through Yeshuaw:

Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased! And he who humbleth himself shall be exalted! (Luke 14:11)

Being humble appears to be the opposite of exalting one's self; and "exalteth" (Luke 14:11) is a King James translation of a word meaning "to elevate" (Strong: Greek: 5312), which is translated elsewhere "lift up"! (5312)

So to be humble is to lower one's self in relation to another; and the reason for that lowering is simple!

If in approaching a neighbor one has an high opinion of his or her own self, his or her own position in life or his or her own system of belief, he or she will come at the other with the attitude that the other is beneath - that the neighbor has nothing to offer him or her, that the neighbor is therefore unworthy of being heard or considered and that the neighbor is worthy only of listening to what "the Wise One" - namely, me - has to say!

It is well to observe that "whosoever exalteth himself" (Luke 14:11) has done that to himself! And, likewise, has "he who humbleth himself" (Verse 11) made a personal choice to do that.

In turn, each of such persons brings, from Yehovaw, his response to that choice, to where one is either "abased" or "exalted" by Yehovaw, Who is the holy, almighty, eternal and self-existing Creator and Lord God over all the universe and therefore has the supreme sovereignty to do that!

If a condescending approach toward a neighbor is indeed that of oneself, he or she is guilty of breaking Yehovaw's commandment to love one's neighbor "as thyself"! (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39) The offender has failed to regard his or her neighbor as an equal! And the offender has lost Yehovaw's blessing in that relationship!

The ultimate offense is for one to approach his or her Lord God as inferior to himself or herself; and that sin is the problem that Job seems to have suffered: for he said, of Yehovaw and his letting Job suffer:

²Even today is my complaint bitter! My stroke is heavier than my groaning! ³Oh that I knew where I might find Him,that I might come even to his seat! ⁴I would order my cause before Him and fill my mouth with arguments! (Job 23:2 to 4)

There the righteous might dispute with Him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge! (Job 23:7)

Elihu, the youngest of Job's visitors in his trial, was offended, by Job, "because he justified himself rather than God"! (Job 32:2) And Yehovaw Himself put His almighty finger upon Job's fault, by asking:

Shall he who contendeth with the Almighty instruct Him? He who reproveth God, let him answer it. (Job 40:2)

Wilt thou also disannul My judgment? Wilt thou condemn Me, that thou mayest be righteous? (Job 40:8)

But, when Yehovaw got through talking with Job about his problem, Job said:

I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes! (Job 42:6)

In Job's newly found humility before him "the Lord turned the captivity of Job ... Also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before"! (Job 42:10)

Judging himself superior to Yehovaw is what got Lucifer thrown out of Heaven and renamed "Satan" or "opponent"! (Strong: Hebrew: 7854) Yehovaw wrote, through His prophet:

How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, Son of the Morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, who didst weaken the nations? (Isaiah 14:12)

¹³For thou hast said, in thine heart, I will ascend into Heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God! I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the Sides of the North! ¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds! I will be like the Most High! (Isaiah 14:13 and 14)

Yet thou shalt be brought down to Hell, to the sides of the Pit! (Isaiah 14:15)

Could there be any clearer example of what Yehovaw had in His magnificent heart, when He said, through Yeshuaw, "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased! And he who humbleth himself shall be exalted"? (Luke 14:11)

Satan's greatest temptation is for us to be like him! And Yehovaw instructed His disciples, through Yeshuaw, to pray:

Lead us not into temptation! But deliver us from evil! (Matthew 6:13)

Failure to seek that deliverance, which is achieved by being humble both toward our Lord God and our neighbor, is to risk the final and awful judgment that Yehovaw will speak through Yeshuaw:

Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels! (Matthew 25:41)

The person hardened into arrogance becomes "cursed" (Matthew 25:41), like Satan is cursed, irrevocably, and therefore will share in Yehovaw's punishment for Satan!

In contrast to that condemnation is Yehovaw's recommendation of Himself through Yeshuaw:

²⁹Take my yoke, upon you, and learn of Me! For I am meek and lowly in heart! And ye shall find rest unto your souls! ³⁰For My yoke is easy! And My burden is light! (Matthew 11:29)

One must be humble to receive the most fundamental promise of Yehovaw's judgment of reward ever to be offered by Him to the Children of Israel! He said, through Moses, that "all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee". (Deuteronomy 28:2)

A blessed man or woman is not on his or her way to "Hell" (Matthew 5:29) and "the Lake of Fire" (Revelation 20:15) but, rather, is among the highly rewarded people who will be included in Yehovaw's "Resurrection of Life"! (John 5:29) And that glory is reserved for "they who have done good" (Verse 29), for they who "shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all His commandments"! (Deuteronomy 28:1)

The person who believes himself or herself to be the last word on any subject, a fountain of wisdom deserving to be heard by all others on Earth, does not "hearken" (Deuteronomy 28:1) to any other voice! Yehovaw said, through Yeshuaw:

They shall hear My voice! (John 10:16 and 27)

The person who has failed to hear Yehovaw's voice through Yeshuaw has failed also to be humble, in his or her approach to others in the relatiobnships that we must deal with every day of our lives! For, if one should tell the neighbors to be silent who are shouting their praises to Yehovaw, "the stones would immediately cry out"! (Luke 19:40)

Yehovaw will not tolerate such disrespect among His children! And the key to understanding that way of the Lord is to realize that believing one's self to be the source of wisdom is to be cut off from Yehovaw, Who is the source of all wisdom and the worst nightmare of any child who has turned his or her back on Him as that source! He asked Job:

Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who hath given understanding to the heart? (Job 38:36)

The person foolish enough to reject Yehovaw's wisdom thus breaks, in his or her heart "the First and Great Commandment" (Matthew 22:38), which is to love Yehovaw (Verse 37), and "the second ... like unto it" (Verse 39), which is to love one's neighbor!

One cannot say that he or she loves another for whose words he or she holds contempt! And such contempt is always found in the heart of a person who has been deceived by Satan into believing that he or she is the source of wisdom and that no wisdom is to be found in Yehovaw or in the children whom He has inspired to speak His words!

In speaking of the First and Great Commandment" (Matthew 22:38), which is to love Yehovaw (Verse 37), and "the second ... like unto it" (Verse 39), which is to love one's neighbor (Verse 39), Yehovaw added, through Yeshuaw, the fact that "on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets", thus raising to the highest priority the giving of His love, which manifests among other things as one's willingness to hear another!

Understanding that truth, one cannot fail to appreciate the high regard that Yehovaw has for humility in the hearts of His children! And His word contains priceless examples of it, to help them learn of that high regard!

In response to His disciples' asking Yeshuaw, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (Matthew 18:1), Yehovaw, said, through Yeshuaw:

³Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven! ⁴Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven! (Matthew 18:3 and 4)

"Little children" (Matthew 18:3) have not yet learned from Satan to regard themselves so highly that they do not have the "ears to hear" (Matthew 11:15) on which Yehovaw placed such an high premium through Yeshuaw!

Another example of the difference between humility and arrogance is where Yehovaw told through Yeshuaw of them "who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others"! (Luke 18:9)

¹⁰Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a pharisee and the other a publican! ¹¹The pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers or even as this publican! ¹²I fast twice in the week! I give tithes of all that I possess! (Luke 18:10 to 12)

¹³And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto Heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner! ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other! For every one who exalteth himself shall be abased! And he who humbleth himself shall be exalted! (Luke 18:13 and 14)

Still an other example is found Where Yehovalw advised through Yeshuaw:

⁸When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room, lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him; ⁹and he who bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place! And thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. (Luke 14:8 and 9)

¹⁰But, When thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room, that, when he who bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher! Then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them who sit at meat with thee. ¹¹For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased! And he who humbleth himself shall be exalted! (Luke 14:10 and 11)

Under Satan's temptation "Miriam and Aaron" (Numbers 12:1) raised themselves up in their sense of competence to judge Moses! And they "spake against Moses, because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married"! (Verse 1)

But Yehovaw said, of Moses, that he was "faithful in all Mine house"! (Verse 7) And then He asked, of Aaron and Miriam:

⁸Wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against My Servant Moses? ⁹And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and He departed! (Numbers 12:8 and 9)

Miriam apparently had been behind Aaron's offront to Moses; so that "anger of the Lord" (Numbers 12:9) manifested by her immediately contracting leprosy and being banned from the Israeli camp for a week! (Numbers 12:10 to 15)

So we see that judging others is part of the serious problem of not being humble! Yehovaw commanded, through Yeshuaw:

¹Judge not, that ye be not judged! ²For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again! ³And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? (Matthew 7:1 to 3)

Yehovaw addressed the matter of judging others through His apostle:

Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He who speaketh evil of his brother and judgeth his brother speaketh evil of the law and judgeth the law! But, if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law but a judge! (James 4:11)

There is one Lawgiver, Who is able to save and to destroy! Who art thou who judgest another? (James 4:12)

Yehovaw's judgment for specific transgressions are found in His toraw or law! If one presumes to add his or her own judgment on top of what we call "due process of law", we have decided that Yehovaw's judgments have not been sufficient!

So taking the law into one's own hands is not recommended, by Yehovaw; and presuming to raise up oneself to be that kind of authority is, necessarily, to be a judge without Yehovaw's favor! He said, through Moses:

Ye shall not add unto the word that I command you; neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you. (Deuteronomy 4:2)

People who come with false doctrines born of their own notions about Yehovaw without the sound doctrine established by His toraw or law are guilty of that addition! Of His judgments, Yehovaw wrote, through His psalmist:

The judgments of the Lord are true andrighteous altogether! More to be desired are they than gold - yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb! Moreover by them is thy servant warned! And in keeping of them there is great reward! (Psalm 19:9 and 10)

At the same time, one needs to keep in mind that Satan tempts us also in the opposite direction, to embrace a false humility, the kind that comes from such a low self esteem or lack of confidence that one hears and follows any voice, regardless of how foolish it may be! One is protected from that problem by simply keeping or putting the highest possible value on the commandments of Yehovaw's toraw or law! Yeshuaw said:

¹⁶My doctrine is not mine but His who sent Me. ¹⁷If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of Myself! (John 7:16 and 17)

Yehovaw's holy word teaches us that He is the only sure source of wisdom! So anyone who is full of the knowledge of that word is going to come across to others as one who believes himself or herself to be full of that wisdom! And Satan's servants will seize upon that confidence as a form of arrogance and use it to persecute the one who enjoys knowing Yehovaw's voice, word and wisdom and who walks in such certainty! Yehovaw said, through Yeshuaw:

¹¹Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake! ¹²Rejoice and be exceedingly glad! For great is your reward in Heaven! For so persecuted they the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11 and 12)

While clinging for dear life to the clear recognition of Whom one's true wisdom comes from, being humbly willing to hear it from any neighbor who is speaking it is wisdom also! For the faithful, Yehovaw said, through Yeshuaw:

I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist! (Luke 21:15)

I believe it can be said without fear of contradiction that the humble child is precious in Yehovaw's sight! So our prayer needs to be for His humility to be ours, as a likeness to Him that is highly treasured!

Amen! Alleluia!