After the legendary Muhammad Ali had proclaimed himself as “the greatest that ever lived”, he went on to say that “It’s hard to be humble, when you’re as great as I am”. I guess he was speaking in the context of boxing. Well, the greatest man that ever lived was Jesus, yet He did not find it hard to stay humble. Apostle Paul spoke about the humility of Jesus, and used that to inspire us to embrace this virtue. Jesus has the same status as the Father. However, when He took the form of man, He became obedient to the Father. He stretched His obedience to the limits when He embraced the cruel death of the Cross. The first lesson about this great virtue is that humility is a personal choice. No one can truly be humble without a conscious choice.

We can get a final inspiration for a humble disposition from the fact that the humbler we stay, the more God elevates us. A proud person has no future with God.

Our text provides a powerful inspiration for humility. Apostle Paul considered the differences between people. Such differences are made possible by God, of course for divine reason and purpose. He further argued that there is nothing any of us can lay claim to that is not a product of God’s benevolence. We made nothing, God made all things. We own nothing, God owns all things. Therefore, whatever we have is given to us on trust. We are mere stewards. This mindset will keep us humble. We can get a final inspiration for a humble disposition from the fact that the humbler we stay, the more God elevates us. A proud person has no future with God.