Greatness = Weakness

113 Billion. 

That is Jeff Bezos’ net worth according to Forbes’ annual ranking of the richest people in the world. Everyone knows that he is number one because of this ranking. Rankings show everyone your status compared to everyone else. We are all ranking and seeing where we fit in the world relative to others. We do this with the amount of our salary, size and location of our home, type of car, the amount of A’s in our grades, where we vacation, and so much more. We are all checking our status to see who is ahead of us and who is behind us. If we can’t be number one, then we want to be ahead of more people. 

In Matthew 18:1-5, Jesus’ disciples had this same mentality when they asked Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” They thought that the world’s standards of success and greatness are the same as God’s standard of success. The only difference is that it deals with spiritual things. It is about being more holy and perfect. It is about not sinning or how you sin less than others. It was about keeping the law and spiritual rules perfectly. 

Jesus shocks the disciples when he teaches that they are wrong. He teaches that if you want to be great in the kingdom of God then you have to be weak. He gives them an unexpected lesson object of a child. In the first century, children were not valued. They were considered worthless because they only took your time, energy, resource, and money. They are so dependent on their parents for life and survival. That is why Jesus wants us to be like kids. Jesus says that all spiritual giants know that they can’t survive or live without God. They look to God for their protection, safety, and guidance from their heavenly Father. The world says you can be successful in your own strength. Jesus says that you need to be completely dependent on God. This means having an attitude of humility. What is humility and how do you get it? Here are four ways for us to grow our humility. When we do, that’s when we are great in the eyes of God. 

1) Know Who You Are

Humility is knowing who you are, accepting who you are, and being who you are. This is when you are your best self. To do this, we need to avoid two extremes that hurt us. The first is when we think less of ourselves. Moses suffered this when he thought God had it wrong to choose him (Exodus 3:11). The other extreme is when we think too highly of ourselves. When we are in the middle of these two extremes, we don’t deny our God-given talents, abilities, and skills. Rather, we use them for God’s glory. 

2) Know Your Need for God

A car can’t run without gas and people can’t breathe without air. Humble Christians can’t live without God. It’s an utter dependence and need for God not only for our salvation but also in our daily life. It’s when Jesus says that we are to ask for our “daily bread” from God (Matthew 6:11). It’s not physical food but spiritual food for our souls. It’s knowing that our strength and nourishment comes from God. We need His word every day to get through the day. 

3) Love and Serve Others

Paul connects humility with love (Philippians 1:9, 16). You show humility when you show love and service to others. It takes an incredibly humble and godly person to serve and help others. Jesus is the greatest example of this in Philippians 2. Jesus proves his humility by living in the comforts of Heaven serve and save us on earth.  

4) Authentically Accept other Humble People

Fake humility is when you are nice outwardly to people but inwardly, you think we are still better than them. True humility comes when you can be authentic and genuine to other people in the church. It’s not about being spiritually better than others. It’s about accepting all people. This is tested when your enemies come to faith or find Jesus. It’s tested when you need to forgive those who have hurt you and betrayed you. You can do so because you know that Jesus has forgiven you. 

God’s math does not = the world’s math. The world’s way to greatness is to climb up but God’s way to greatness is by climbing down. Jesus shows us what true humility and greatness looks like. Let’s be and show Jesus.