When we walk in the fear of the Lord we begin to walk in humility. This life brings reverence and respect for God and His will and ways for who He is and what He has done for us. We begin to appreciate Him and get a glimpse of Jesus' attitude when He walked this earth.
The spiritual riches, honor and life are given as rewards to individuals who walk in humility. Proverbs 22:4 ESV tells us this.
"The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches, and honor and life."
Are these rewards motivation to put on humility? I don't think so. That would be pride in what we have accomplished by ourselves.
Is it prosperity gospel? It may sound like it. Perhaps we may prosper materially but I think it more likely to be spiritual benefit.
Submission to our Heavenly Father will be evidence of humility. God's mercy and grace will be treasures to adorn ourselves with and God will be able to honor this allowing for a more meaningful life in general and in serving our Lord and Savior, more specifically. Our ambitions will have more godly purposes and principles, governing our lives to please and honor Him in return.
I had a friend tell me recently that the company she was part of ran on Christian principles. They had integrity and other companies in competition with them, acknowledged this. Her company came to be trusted by others as well as by their clients. In this they were honored because they feared the Lord and walked in humility even as they meted out their professional services.
What is this humility I write about? It's realizing we ourselves are not more important than others. We realize our own shortcomings and limitations. We do not boast. We see our own strengths as well as weaknesses. We come to realize other peoples thoughts, ideas and opinions have merit too and even praise others' accomplishments, encouraging them to share their ideas and input. The Lord honored them in this way.
One difficult aspect of honing humility, which can be a huge hurdle to overcome is to admit our mistakes. A close second would be to be able to forgive and to apologize to others.
Christ is always our example in everything. Oops, He never made mistakes, but I'm talking about His attitudes. That familiar passage in Philippians 2:1-10. This can be our standard. Jesus definitely looked after the interests of others, taking the form of a servant. And as we can see, Jesus humbled Himself, which led to His obedience to His Father's will. His Father honored and
"bestowed [upon] Him the name that is above every name" (Philippians 2:9 ESV).
In culmination of all this, we get a surface glance at what humility could look like in anyone who wishes to walk in humility and the fear of the Lord. Fear of the Lord, reverence, submission to the Lord's will and mercy and grace adornment, for starters.
Godly purposes and principles steer our lives; we see others of equal value; we are able to admit to our mistakes, forgive others and apologize to them. We take Jesus as our example of humility, and become His obedient servant.
No doubt there is so much more. He makes all things beautiful in His time, so follow Jesus' footsteps. As we live like this, I think our clothes of humility will become more vibrant.
Let's begin this journey today ...
~ ERC November 2025 ~
Based on Proverbs 22:4, Philippians 2:1-10 ESV.
Sing, In His Time, along with the Maranatha Singers.
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