The Humility of a Servant

I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

–Romans 12:3

Philippians 2:5–11 beautifully describes the character of Jesus Christ. In this passage, Paul explained three qualities of servanthood we need to learn if we are going to develop a serving heart.

First of all, we need the quality of humility. We see this in verses 5–6: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.” Humility means to have a proper evaluation of yourself.

People can go to one of two extremes when they try to evaluate themselves. Some people believe they are God’s greatest gift to the church. They think, How could the church ever get along without me? Other people go to the opposite extreme. They think, I’m nothing but a lowly worm.

God’s Word says we ought to think of ourselves realistically. In Romans 12:3, Paul wrote, “I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” Then Paul went into a discussion of spiritual gifts. The truth is that in and of ourselves, we are nothing. But if you’re a Christian, God has given you a unique spiritual gift to use in the body of Christ. Don’t think too highly of yourself or too lowly of yourself. Understand who you are in Christ.

Jesus had a perfect understanding of who He was. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus reminded Peter that His coming death was voluntary, not compulsory. He said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53). Now, that may seem a little arrogant at first–until you realize Jesus was telling the truth. Jesus had a perfect understanding of who He was. He didn’t think too highly or too lowly of Himself. As Paul said in Philippians 2:5–6, Jesus understood that He was equal to God. Yet He sacrificed His rights as God in order to meet our needs.

The first act of servanthood is to realize what God has given you. Understand who you are in Christ.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Developing a Serving Heart” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2008.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.