Humility Is an Attitude

What does love, the kind of love God has for us and wants us to have for others, look like? Take a look at John 1:14-18 (NIV).

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'” From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

It is no small thing that twice in this short passage John describes Jesus with the words grace and truth.

In verse 14 John says that Jesus was full of grace and truth. Not all of one and none of the other. Not some of each. He came full of both. Jesus was the incarnation of pure grace and pure truth. John saw this as the proof that Jesus was indeed from God and was God. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father.

The reason, John tells us, he knew that Jesus was the Son of God was because He was full of grace and truth. Why does the appearance of a life full of grace and truth verify Jesus’ glory as the same as the Father’s?

God’s glory is wrapped up in the expression of grace and truth to His people. In Exodus 33:18 Moses asked God to show him His glory. God granted Moses’ wish and visually passed His glory by Moses. As he passed by, God verbally proclaimed His glory.

The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation (Exodus 34:6-7).

God’s glory was in His magnificent grace that
made Him slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.

Yet he also revealed Himself as the God of truth who conducted Himself by the highest standards, for he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation. From the beginning God has revealed Himself as being full of grace and truth.

Then in verse 17, John says that Jesus brought grace and truth. In Christ we see grace and truth as gifts from the Father. Before grace and truth were shown through God’s providence, the Old Testament priests and sacrifices, the leadership of judges and kings, and in the messages of His prophets. As the author of Hebrews says, In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son (Hebrews 1:1-2 (NIV).

Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). In Him we see in human life and action the glory that God verbally proclaimed to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7. In the life of Jesus Christ, the grace and truth of the Father is brought to us, shown to us, and lived before us by God Himself. If there was ever a question as to what God was like, it is answered in Jesus Christ. That is what John was trying to convey in verse 18 of our text, No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

Jesus told isHHiHHis disciples in John 13:34-35 (NIV) A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

How did Jesus love them? How did He show it? What did it look like? That is worth thinking about because Jesus said “it is by loving people the way I have loved you that everyone will know you are My disciples.”

I believe that John’s answer, and indeed the answer in whole of Scripture, is that:

LOVE = GRACE + TRUTH.

Grace plus truth produces love.

Grace is how God wants us to respond in our relationships with one another. We are to be humble, forgiving, compassionate, gentle, and slow to anger in our relationships.

Truth is how God wants us to conduct ourselves in our relationships with one another. We should be just, upright, honest, and trustworthy in our relationships.

Love is responding with grace while conducting ourselves in truth. Grace + truth = love.

Grace calls us to be humble and at the same time to be confident because of God’s grace to us. Grace calls us to be peacemakers, to be as free with forgiveness with others as Christ is with us, and to be thankful in all things.

The truth calls to do good, to be righteous in our dealings with each other. It calls us to act justly, to be honest, and truthful. The truth calls us to pursue godly knowledge and wisdom, and to cultivate a healthy fear and awe of our God.

If we are going to follow the command of Jesus in John 13:34-35 to love one another as He loves us, we need to do it by living in and living out His grace and truth.

We should want to do this because this is where the beauty of God really consists. Love’s love, remember is God’s holiness. God’s holiness is His grace, mercy, compassion, kindness, goodness, righteousness, truthfulness, and faithfulness. These are summarized by John as being grace and truth. If love’s love is holiness, then we should want these characteristics to be seen in us because we see them as beautiful, desirable, and worthy of attaining.

So understanding how grace and truth work together in our life is essential to having a healthy love for God and having a healthy love for one another.

What kinds of fruit grow on the life that is fully rooted in grace and truth? Over the next few weeks I plan to look at five characteristics of a life that is full of God’s grace and then look at five characteristics of a life that is full of God’s truth. Today I want to look at the first quality of a life full of grace: humility.

Let’s start by looking at 1 Peter 3:8 (NIV) which says,

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

We should all live in harmony with one another. The Greek literally says, “be all of you of one mind.” That means we should all agree on the truth that Paul is teaching here. What he is talking about is how we should be showing love to each other; he is saying to us “this is what love looks like. Whatever else we may differ on, we should all be of one accord on this point: that being humble and being compassionate should be things we all agree are qualities that show genuine Christian love.”

Notice too that humility is an attitude. It is not an emotion. The Greek word, translated here as “humility” literally means being “friendly of mind.” I actually prefer the way the NLT translates this verse, Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. It is a way of thinking. Feelings come and go and we can’t always control when they turn on or off. But attitudes are different. You choose your attitudes. It is a mental thing. Humility is a state of mind and heart.