The greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:11-12 HCSB
It is said, “What goes up must come down.” This is a phrase that originated from the laws of physics, particularly gravity. Isaac Newton observed that any object propelled upward will eventually succumb to the Earth’s gravitational pull and fall back down. For example, if we throw a ball up into the air, it comes back down. Metaphorically, this phrase has come to mean that anything that rises will eventually fall or return to its original state.
When Jesus said the greatest among you will be your servant, this is one of those paradoxes in the Bible that we’ve been talking about. Jesus was talking about us humbling ourselves as Christians to be servants of Christ.
In Ephesians 5:1, we are told to imitate Christ. We know from studying the life of Christ that He humbled Himself. He left heaven to come to earth in human form. We are told in Philippians 2:5 to make our own attitude that of Jesus Christ. Paul then goes on to explain in verse 7 that Jesus emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave. In verse 8, Paul pointed out how Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. In verse 9, he said this is the reason God exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name.
No matter what position we hold in this earthly life, we should all be humble servants of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s easy, however, to work our way up in the world and start to think more highly of ourselves than we should. In Philippians 2:3, Paul said, “Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.” And Paul said in Romans 12:3 that we should never think more highly of ourselves than we ought to, but should think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.
We should always strive to exhibit the type of behavior that God honors. We know from Proverbs 6:18 and numerous other Scripture passages that God hates pride. James 4:6 tells us that God opposes the proud but gives more grace to the humble.
In our Scripture passage for today, Jesus warns that if we bring ourselves up in pride, we will be brought down in humility. Just as Jesus came to earth as a humble servant, obedient to God, the Father, we should do the same.
If we humble ourselves, God will honor us and exalt us at the proper time (1 Peter 5:6). If we refuse to humble ourselves and puff ourselves up with pride, God will humble us. If we put ourselves up there, God will bring us down, and we don’t want that.
If we humble ourselves as lowly servants, just as Jesus did when he left heaven to come to earth, God will exalt us when the time is right. We must trust in Him.
If you are proud of all you have accomplished, remember we attain or accomplish nothing without Him. We are told in James 1:17-19 that every good thing and every good gift comes from God. Remember to glorify God in all you do.
Humble yourself, trust in Him. If you lift yourself, be assured, you are going to be brought down. But when God lifts us up, we can defy the laws of gravity.
Have a great day!