The Five Doctrines of Christian Manliness — Part 2, Humility

Humility

Letting God have the glory

This is the second post in a series. You can read the other parts here.

Being a “know-it-all” is kind of an unattractive quality… in every sense of the term. Men want people to think they’re valuable but not just in everyday things. Men often want to be seen as valuable in a unique, one-of-a-kind, heroic sense. Men often strongly desire to be known for great things and if a man doesn’t feel “great” he’ll often compensate for this by talking a “big game” as they say. He' has allowed human pride to get the better of him. The problem is, that this tends to have the opposite effect than the man intends. Instead of being viewed as great, he is instead viewed as cocky, weaselly, and inauthentic. To be quite frank, other men might struggle with thoughts of punching that guy in the throat. Not good. See Proverbs 18:12, Proverbs 16:18; and Luke 14:11.

Humility Doctrine…

As men, we desire honor. We naturally want to be reverenced and remembered well. I believe God made this desire innate in men so that we might be productive and be satisfied in accomplishment. However, the Bible teaches, “Before honor, is humility.” (Proverbs 18:12b). I must learn to be humble first before I can ever expect honor. According to Philippians chapter 2, humility is self-sacrificial, considering itself “of no reputation” and taking on “the form of a servant” and being “obedient unto death”. It is imperative to know that before I can ever be “highly exalted” I must humble myself. (See Philippians 2:3-9).