The greatest of God are the least
At that time the
disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of
heaven?" And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and
said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like
children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles
himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:1-4
Accepting insults for healing
Jesus went away from
there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon . And a Canaanite woman from that region
came out and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of
David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed." But He did not answer her
a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, "Send her away,
because she keeps shouting at us." But He answered and said, "I was
sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel ." But she came and
began to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" And He
answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw
it to the dogs." But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on
the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus said to her,
"O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish."
And her daughter was healed at once.
Matthew 15:21-28
God gives grace to the humble
All of you, clothe
yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD,
BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty
hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety
on Him, because He cares for you.
I Peter 5:5-7
Go to the lowest place to be exalted
And He began speaking a
parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the
places of honor at the table, saying to them, When you are invited by someone
to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more
distinguished than you may have been invited by him, and he who invited you
both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this man,' and then in
disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. But when you are invited, go and
recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he
may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will have honor in the sight
of all who are at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Luke 14:7-11
David's humility in defeat
When King David came to
Bahurim, behold, there came out from there a man of the family of the house of
Saul whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out cursing continually as
he came. He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; and
all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his
left. Thus Shimei said when he cursed,
"Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, and worthless fellow! The LORD has returned upon you all the
bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the LORD
has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. And behold, you are
taken in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed!" Then Abishai the
son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord
the king? Let me go over now and cut off his head." But the king said,
"What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses, and if the
LORD has told him, 'Curse David,' then who shall say, 'Why have you done
so?'" Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "Behold, my
son who came out from me seeks my life; how much more now this Benjamite? Let
him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has told him. Perhaps the LORD will
look on my affliction and return good to me instead of his cursing this
day." So David and his men went on the way; and Shimei went along on the
hillside parallel with him and as he went he cursed and cast stones and threw
dust at him.
II Samuel 16:5-13
Be humble like Jesus
Do nothing from
selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as
more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal
interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in
yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form
of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied
Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of
men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also,
God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven
and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:3-11
The humble will inherit the kingdom
Rest in the LORD and
wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
Cease from anger and forsake
wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
For evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.
Yet a little while
and the wicked man will be no more;
And you will look carefully for his place
and he will not be there.
But the humble will inherit the land
And will delight
themselves in abundant prosperity.
Psalm 37:7-11
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