According to Bible scholar John Stott, humility is “the rarest and fairest of all Christian virtues.” It’s also the chief Christian virtue because it’s the exact opposite of the worst of sins—pride.[1]

Therefore, since such is your duty and privilege, fulfil my joy, and show yourselves to be true citizens of God’s kingdom by your humility and unity of spirit. When we read the word “therefore” in Scripture, there is always a reason for it. What comes before the word explains what comes after it. “selfish ambition or vain conceit”

[1]https://www.ourdailyjourney.org/2012/03/16/true-humility/

James and Paul both warn against selfish ambition. James says that the “wisdom of the world” is actually foolishness that is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. Selfishness is not just an isolated issue. Taking our eyes of Christ and becoming conceited results in a sinful life dominated by temporary, passing goals, pleasures, and pleasures.

Jodi Hooper wrote about the pride and selfishness of Satan. Satan's pride resulted in his downfall. He was not content in his role as an angel. See Isaiah 14:13-14.

Lucifer knew he was beautiful, powerful, and smart. His wonderful qualities caused him to become proud. He was no longer content with the gifts God had given him. He wanted more. He wanted a throne that would be higher than all the other angels. Being in God’s presence was no longer enough for him. Lucifer wanted to be as great as God! Five times, Lucifer said “I will” - “I will be lifted up; I will be like the Most High God.” Lucifer wanted to rob God of the praise that ONLY God deserves.[1]

[1]https://bible.org/article/“i-will’s”-pride

True wisdom comes only from God and only when are humble and willing to listen to the Lord and obey Him. A line I’d once heard from the philosopher Sydney Banks came to mind:

Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less. Humility is thinking about God and others and not just ourselves.

In this sense, humility is humanity. It’s nothing to do with high or low self-esteem; it’s about recognizing who we are in Christ.

When we are humble, we realize that our blessings and talents come from the Lord.

When we walk in pride and are conceited regarding our talents and accomplishments, we are demonstrating that we do not understand or appreciate the role that God holds in everything we do. None of us are able to succeed in our own strength or wisdom; we should always remember it is God that makes what we do possible.

The term "humility" comes from the Latin word humilitas, a noun related to the adjective humilis, which may be translated as "humble", but also as "grounded", or "from the earth", since it derives from humus (earth).

With the believer, tapeinóō ("show humility, true lowliness") happens by being fully dependent on the Lord – dismissing reliance upon self (self-government) and emptying carnal ego. This exalts the Lord as our all-in-all and prompts the gift of His fullness in us.

A Christian looks not only to his or her interests but also to the interests of others. It is not just a lack of selfishness. It is also an active concern for the welfare of others. We can see the concern for others in the life of Joseph.

Joseph's brothers almost killed him; they sold Joseph into slavery. He could have gotten revenge by killing them. Or Joseph could have passively ignored them and let them starve. However, Joseph demonstrated humility and love by feeding and forgiving them. Joseph said that God used the trials in his life to place him in a position to save his family.

Towards the end of Paul's letter to the Romans, he reminds them of the importance of living in harmony with a humble attitude. We rarely read or hear about harmony in our culture. There is so much of an emphasis on the individual and our self expression that it so easy to lose sight of the need for teamwork and togetherness.

Anyone who has studied music should be familiar with harmony. Harmony isn't just important in music, it's inevitable. Harmony is simply the act of playing two notes at once or in counterpoint. We find harmony in the hymns we sing. A hymn is a formal song, sung to God in public worship, typically by the entire congregation.

Technically speaking, a hymn consists of words only, while the music to which a hymn is sung is the hymn tune. For example, "Amazing Grace" is sung to the hymn tune NEW BRITAIN and "Rock of Ages" is sung to TOPLADY. The music of a hymn is what trained musicians call "chordal." Imbedded in this chordal structure is a pattern of melody, harmony and rhythm. This enables the music to strengthen and enhance the text.

Most often a hymn is designed for four-part harmony. Shouldn’t harmony also be inevitable in the Christian life whenever two or more Christians gather in unity to fellowship, pray, witness, or worship?

Just as in music, harmony is crucial in sports. The Lord is composing a magnificent symphony playing through all ages and we each have an instrument to play. We all have a place in Christ’s body, the church.

We all have roles to play in our churches, families, and other relationships. Are we humble enough to follow leaders and listen to advice and criticism? Is our team like a Super Bowl champion playing with unity, or are all taking our own paths without thinking about other people? How do we show people that we are Christians? They know that we are Christians because of our love and because we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

John Piper wrote about how he opposes pride. One of the most famous Christian pastors and writers in America, he wrote the following: “I remind myself that I am utterly dependent on God for my origin and for my present and future existence. I call this to mind and ponder its truth.

Mediate on Scriptures.

Receive all criticism — from friend or foe — with the assumption that there is almost certainly some truth in it that I can benefit from. “…Be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19)

Strive to cultivate a joy in Christ and his wisdom and power and justice and love that is more satisfying than the pleasures of human praise, with the goal that, by the Spirit,

I would be granted the miracle of self-forgetfulness in the admiration of Christ, and in love toward people.”We remember who God is, meditate on Scripture, receive criticism, and focus on our God-given joy.

1. Start praising others. By this, I do not mean to flatter people -praise those vain things like dress and looks. Look at others as God's precious gifts to you. You and I cannot do without them. As we see the importance of others around them, we will thank them and praise them. Our compliments will become real.

2. Carefully listen to others when they are going through humbling times.

I figure that part of the humble experiences I go through are because I have not learned from the cues God has earlier given to me. We will need to go through humble times of course but why increase them! Pay attention to lessons God is teaching others. Self-examination can greatly increase our wisdom.

We are interdependent creatures. We need each other. The church is His body. We are members of one another. Because of this, we love one another. We treasure one another. We will assume the best of each other (1 Corinthinans 13). This attitude is crucial for good brotherly leadership

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4. Don't criticize others as if you haven't sinned. One day we will judge with Christ but right now it is best that each time we see another sin, we remember when we have sinned in a like way, or even in a worse way. Then pray for God's grace for that man or woman. We must be careful to use constructive criticism and not to criticize people to embarrass or hurt them.

Prayer: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. ” Numbers 6:24-26