How Having Humility is Healthy

James 4

By Jared Saavedra

The world doesn’t really know what to do with “humility.” People love when others have it, but hate to have it themselves. For a Christian, however, humility is the means by which we receive the grace of God. James 4 reminds us that pride is dangerous territory. It is worldly, and even makes us an enemy of God (James 4:4).

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:6-7

The beginning of this passage tells us that the one acting is God. To any sin in our lives, he gives “more grace,” but we also must be willing to repent in humility.

Pride is poison. It blinds us to our true need for forgiveness, as well as the ugliness of our sin. Some people think pride is harmless, that it’s just recognizing our accomplishments or simply appreciating who we are. Yet the Bible says that anything we have is from God (1 Chronicles 29:14; James 1:17), and it also says that we are wretched sinners (Romans 3).

So pride is not only sin. It gives us a false sense of reality. Thus, if we’re prideful, we might as well believe that we get orange juice from cows and that 5 plus 8 equals 3. Rather, a humble heart knows the truth, understanding our need for salvation through the blood of Jesus.

So what does this have to do with the next verse—submitting to God and resisting to devil? Consider Adam and Eve. Eve was tempted with the fruit because she thought it could “make one wise” (Genesis 3:6). This was a lie from the devil, and it was rooted in pride. If they truly submitted to God, they would remember his command to not eat the fruit!

Some people try to resist the devil by trying their hardest, but honestly, we cannot resist temptation unless we are first submitted to God in obedience. Pride and boasting usually end up showing our weakness when we make a mistake, but humility always shows God’s strength.