Wisdom from my friend Rich Dixon:

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“O Lord, it’s hard to be humble.”

Folks of a certain age might recognize that as the first line of a humorous country song. I’m not saying we ought to seek wisdom in the lyrics of cowboy tunes, but in this case the writer’s absolutely correct.

It’s hard to be humble.

Recently a friend wrote a text with some kind words about this year’s FREEDOM TOUR. She followed with a nice personal compliment.

I composed a fumbling response, making sure to credit the rest of our team and dutifully pointing to God. Three messages and dozens of words later, I’m sure she was shaking her head at my awkward faux humility. I re-read the exchange and realized there was a much better, much more genuine response: THANK YOU.

It’s hard to be humble.

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Perhaps humble isn’t something we’re supposed to “be.” I wonder if that’s why Micah 6:8 says “walk humbly” instead of “be humble.” Maybe humility is something we work out along the journey rather than a destination we try to reach.

So how can you and I walk humbly? Two thoughts.

First, it’s not about me (or you).

Someone once said humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. Maybe part of the answer is constantly reminding myself that Jesus loves me so I can love others. I tend to forget that second part sometimes.

Second, it’s about God.

The Message translation of Micah 6:8 says “And don’t take yourself too seriously – take God seriously.”

That means, to me, to try to think from a kingdom perspective. To seek justice and love my neighbor.

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My friend didn’t want my silly sermonette about false humility. The world doesn’t need our labored attempts to demonstrate that we’ve arrived at humility.

Walk humbly. Follow Me.