Secrets of Success: #6 Be Humble

sos letters

On the first Monday of each month when my children were in high school, I wrote a letter to them describing a secret of success in life.  Recently I compiled a year’s worth of secrets into a small book. Letters to My Children: Secrets of Success is a great gift for graduates and a practical study for youth groups.  To give you a glimpse, I posted Secret #6 here.Humility is one of the most important and most attractive qualities a person can have. Humility can be defined as having a right view of God, yourself, and others.

1. Have a right view God.

Like most of us, you may have much too small of an understanding of who God is. He is the most high God (Daniel 4:24, 34); the Almighty One (Genesis 17:1); the Creator of everything (Genesis 14:19, 22 and Colossians 1:16). He is your loving Father, but He is also the all-powerful Ruler of the universe.

2. Have a right view of yourself.

Each of us is actually a paradox. Compared to God you are nothing. Yet you are also of incredible value because you are made in God’s image and worth the price of Jesus’ life. Despite your high value, God clearly wants you to walk in humility, not pride. The Bible warns about pride (Matthew 23:2; Proverbs 8:13; 11:2; 16:18; I Peter 5:5) and commands you to humble yourself (I Peter 5:6;Colossians 3:12; Ephesians 4:2). Scripture promises many benefits when you walk in humility: grace (Proverbs 3:34), guidance (Psalm 25:9), wisdom (Proverbs 11:2), honor (Proverbs 15:33), and many more.

3. Have a right view of others.

Success in life depends on success in relationships. Nothing will contribute more to successful relationships than being humble, respectful and loving toward others. God desires you to consider others better than yourself (Philippians 2:3-4), to honor others above yourself (Romans 12:10), and to treat others as you want to be treated (Matthew 7:12).

My prayer is that you will increasingly find joy, friendship, and success as you walk humbly before God and others.

What about you? Do you need work on your views?

c2011 Judy Douglass

Letters to My Children: Secrets of Success is available from New Life Resources.