What is humility? Is it thinking of yourself as a lowly person? Is it thinking of yourself as a worthless sinner saved by grace? A man once said to me, “I like to think of myself as an unworthy sinner. It keeps me humble.” Is this a proper view according to the Word of God? What does God think about you?
Who do you say that I am?
Do you remember the question that Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). This question is probably the most important question we can ask ourselves, “Who do we say Jesus is?” This one question determines our salvation. If Jesus is not Savior and Lord to us, then we are not saved by Him, because believing Him to be Savior and Lord and confessing this truth with our mouths is the way of salvation (Romans 10:9-10).
Now, the same question is of paramount importance, but it comes from our own mouths to God Himself. “God, who do You say that I am?” This answer is life-changing. Really truly believing what God thinks about you will wreck your life in a good way and blow your mind.
God’s Ways
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.” Isaiah 55:8 (ESV)
After reading this verse, should we give up, seeing God’s ways as unattainable? No, I think this is an invitation to take on His thoughts and His ways. It’s our opportunity to come into agreement with what God thinks. This is a concept I call true humility.
True humility is getting rid of my personal concepts and thought patterns and mindsets and ways, and taking on God’s concepts and thought patterns and mindset and ways. His ways are superior; mine are inferior. His thoughts are perfect; mine are imperfect.
Seek the Lord
Isaiah 55:6-7 ”Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
Immediately prior to the “My thoughts are not your thoughts” verse, Isaiah records for us how we take on and agree with God’s thoughts and ways. This is how to seek the Lord.
- “Let the wicked forsake his way” -> get rid of anti-God ways and return to the Lord’s ways
- “Let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts” -> get rid of false thinking, thinking that doesn’t align with the truth of God’s Word, thinking that doesn’t align with Jesus’ thinking, thinking that is unrighteous
- “Return to the Lord” -> repentance, changing one’s mind, moving towards the Lord, drawing near to Him
- “He may have compassion… He will abundantly pardon” -> promises from a good Father
The List
Below is a list of common false beliefs as well as the true beliefs that combat those lies. Take a look and see if any surprise you, or see which ones stick out to you the most. Look up the verses for those particular ones.
| False Belief | True Belief |
| Self-________ | In Christ |
| God is out to get me | God is a loving Father, through Christ not counting your sins and trespasses against you. (Rom 5:15-21, Ps 103:3,10-12) |
| After salvation, I’m still a sinner | After salvation, I am now a saint (1 Cor. 1:2, 2 Cor. 5:17, Col. 1:2,4,12) |
| I’m here by accident | I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4) |
| I’m not holy | I am holy and blameless (Eph. 1:4) |
| I’m unrighteous | I am made righteous through the blood of Christ. (Rom. 5:19, Heb. 12:23, 1 John 3:7, Rom 3:22) I am the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Cor. 5:21, Rom. 5:17, 6:18, 8:10, 1 Cor. 1:30) |
| Things are going to crap | I am blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3) |
| I am a victim of my circumstances | I am a kingdom and priest unto God, part of a holy nation (1 Pet. 2:4-5, Rev. 1:6, 5:10, 20:6) |
| I feel condemned for my past behavior | There is no condemnation in Christ (Rom. 8:1) |
| I’m under the law of sin and death | Now you’re under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ. (Rom. 8:2) Now it’s against the law to live in any other way than in freedom. |
| God doesn’t love me, especially not like He loved Jesus | The Father loves us just as He loves the Son (John 3:16, John 17:23, 1 John 4:7-9) |
| I shouldn’t get any glory | Jesus gave us His glory (John 17:22, Eph. 2:6) |
| I am broken | You are made whole with the “shalom” of God (2 Tim. 3:17, James 1:4, 1 Thess. 5:23, Phil. 4:19, Titus 3:5, Ps. 4:8, Isa. 26:3) |
| I’m a self made man/ woman/ person | God is the one who blesses (Num. 6:23-27, Ps. 1, Matt. 25:34, Gal. 3:9, Eph. 1:3,6) and makes us brand new (2 Cor. 5:17) |
| I have to strive to live up to God’s holy standards or He won’t accept me | You get to rest in God’s presence, already accepted (Ps. 23, Rom. 14:18, Eph. 2:8-9, Ps. 16:11, Rom. 3:24-26) |
| I’m not innocent | You are innocent in Christ (Phil. 2:15, 1 Thess. 3:13) |
| I’m unworthy | You are made worthy in Christ (Eph. 4:1, 2 Thess. 1:5, 11-12, 2 Tim. 1:9-10, Rev. 3:4) |
| I’m self-confident | Our confidence and sufficiency is in Christ (2 Cor. 3:4-6, Eph. 3:12, Phil. 1:14, 1 Tim. 3:13, Heb. 4:16, 1 John 4:17) |
| I’m not qualified | The Father qualifies you (Col. 1:12, 2 Tim. 3:16-17) |
False Humility
Now there’s an incorrect thought process going on today, which I call “false humility.” It goes something like this: in order to be humble, we must think of ourselves as dirty rotten sinners, the scum on the bottom of Jesus’ sandal. The faulty thinking goes, “If I think of myself as a lowly sinner, then I’ll be humble before God and not prideful.”
But to think of yourself in any other way than the way God thinks of you is pride. It’s like saying, “God, I know myself better than You. And the blood of Christ didn’t do a good enough job to make me holy or righteous.” It’s akin to giving God the finger, preferring to stick with traditional thought instead of thinking according to the truth of God’s Word. True humility, on the other hand, accepts and actively agrees with God’s views, God’s thoughts, and God’s ways.
False Beliefs Keep You in Bondage
Here’s an amazing quote from an ebook tackling the dilemma of false thinking and revealing true identity.
“The Problem: Some of your false beliefs have become so true to you that even when God’s truth EXPOSES your false beliefs, you still believe your LIES. Continuing to live from your false beliefs about yourself will keep you in BONDAGE to your fleshly attitudes and behaviors. However, God’s promise in John 8:32 is that “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you FREE.” God will set you free when you know and live from the truth of your true identity.” -Do You Know Your True Identity, Bill Loveless, (link)
Thoughts on Hell
What happens when we choose to think contrary to God? We come into agreement with the thought patterns of Hell. “Don’t you think that’s a little extreme, Brett?” Nope. Just look at Lucifer-turned-Satan. He thought he knew better than God. He proposed an alternate lifestyle to God’s. When Adam and Eve chose the alternate lifestyle, aka eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we see the fruit of Satan’s lifestyle: sin, darkness, destruction.
Timothy Keller had an interesting perspective about Hell and how it connects to our thinking patterns.
“Hell is just a freely chosen identity based on something else besides God, going on forever.” – Timothy Keller
Let’s Agree with Heaven
In Heaven, your true identity is exposed, in a good way. The real you is revealed, the ‘you’ that God knew before you were even born and could do anything good or bad (see Jeremiah1:5). Coming into agreement with what God says about you is one of the most important decisions you can ever make. It’s an incredible journey of having spiritual eyes opened, spiritual ears active, and a tender heart towards the Holy Spirit.
Declaration: I choose to embrace true humility, forsaking my own thoughts about myself or the world’s thoughts about my identity. I will closely and accurately identify with my identity in Christ for life and perspective transformation.
Prayer: Lord, in true humility I want to see myself the way that You, Heavenly Father, see me. And help me also to see the other people around me in the same way that You see them too. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
Resources: Do You Know Your True Identity (Link), Timothy Keller video (Link)
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