Humility

Again, he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and pleaded with him, and said to him: “Man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. 2Kings 1:13 NKJV

Let’s look at the context of this verse:  At the time of the book of 2 Kings, Israel had been divided into two kingdoms: The Northern Kingdom or Israel (made up of ten of the original 12 tribes of Israel) and the Southern kingdom or Judah (made up of the remaining two tribes).  The King of the North, Ahaziah, was an evil king in the sight of the Lord because he worshipped pagan gods. Twice the King of Israel sent a captain and fifty men to the mountaintop to summon Elijah to bring him to the King.  Both contingents of men died because Elijah called down fire from heaven.  And that brings us to this verse.

 A humble person recognizes his own self-worth in the eyes of God, not in the eyes of man.

But I have to wonder did the captain humbled himself because the other contingents of men had been burned up by the fire of God or had it been because he had been truly humbled on God’s mountain.

Whether you are a leader or you are not, it’s a great thing to be humble.  Here are five traits of a humble person: 

• Recognize what you know and what you don’t know.
• Acknowledge your accomplishments, but know there will be others who are more accomplished than you.
• Never forget where you came from.
• Treat everyone with respect.
• Diminish the “I” and elevate the “we”.

Aspiring to have these traits is a worthy goal in life.
What worthy goal have you set for yourself?