Real humility and grace are two of the most desirable traits a person can have. They are traits that turn heads. One of the reasons that they are so remarkable is that they run so counter to our nature. Humility is not about thinking less of yourself, it is about thinking of yourself less and thinking more about the needs of others. Grace is not about giving people what they deserve or what makes us look good, it is about giving people what they clearly don’t deserve irrespective of how it makes us look to others.
These things are not natural but supernatural. They are not traits we can produce. Oh, they have their counterfeits, but the real things can only come from the Real Thing. The good news is that in Christ, we can have that humility and grace, because Christ has united us to Himself and given us His Spirit which naturally grows those fruits.
Yet while the Spirit naturally grows those fruits we are not altogether passive in the growing of them. As the farmer does not make his crop grow but is concerned about cultivating the right environment so that his crop does grow, we need to cultivate our minds and hearts so that humility and grace to have the proper environment in which to grow. Let me share a few things we can be doing to encourage the growth of humility and grace.
We need the illumination that comes from God’s Word. When we read and study and spend time in Scripture it is like shining light into the soil of our soul. The more of that light we have in our mind the more God takes that and brings it into our hearts.
If Scripture is like sunlight, prayer is like rain. Pray for humility and grace. Pray that God will grow them in you. Ask Him to rain his own life into you so that these fruits will grow. It is a prayer that God loves to hear and loves to answer.
We need to be learning to control our tongue. It is so easy to blurt out negative, critical, self-serving stuff! It is our words more than anything else that are the things that will choke and kill the growth of humility and grace in the heart. James goes so far as to say, Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless (James 1:26, NIV).
Proverbs 15:4 (NIV), The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. What we say has incredible power. Whoever said “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me,” was very misled. How many times have we heard in the news about a person committing suicide because of what people said to them or wrote about them on social media? But all of us (I hope) have experienced what it was like to have someone speak just the right words at just the right time. We don’t forget that, do we? We don’t forget the life that those words breathed into us. Grace grows in the hearts of those who speak in such a way as to bring life to people.
Likewise, we need to remember Proverbs 11:12 (NIV), Whoever derides their neighbor has no sense, but the one who has understanding holds their tongue. Sometimes the loving thing to do is to say nothing. That is almost harder than always finding something gracious to say! We so much like strutting our stuff, pointing out mistakes, and getting in the last word. But the one who has understanding knows when to hold their tongue. The more we practice that discipline the more we cultivate our hearts so that humility grows.
Don’t be surprised when people you are discipling have doubts or questions. Even Jesus’ disciples did, right up to the end. Remember how Jesus responded with humility in meekness, discretion, and gentleness; He responded with grace in patience, forgiveness, and affirmation. Let us respond in the same way.
Learning To Be Full Of Grace And Truth. 
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