6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 1 Peter 5:6

Everyone wants to be noticed. We want to hear others singing our praises and building us up. We long to feel significant and to be recognized as important. It’s not a bad thing or a wrong desire; it’s just human nature. We seek the approval of man because it is instant gratification.

But when the desire of human approval outweighs our desire for the approval of our Lord and Savior, it can become dangerously out of proportion. We are made in His image, which means we long to be lifted up and praised—but not by man. Our approval and our praise should only come in God’s perfect timing and in His way.

Only God can truly fulfill our desire for approval, yet we are constantly searching for it from others. And time after time, the approval of man leaves us empty and unsatisfied.

Think of a time when you wanted to be noticed. You knew you had done something good or accomplished a goal you had been working toward, and you felt you deserved acknowledgement for it.
Now, think of a time when you did something good and you didn’t want to be noticed—because it wasn’t about you. You wanted to bless someone or help someone who was struggling financially or personally, and God put it on your heart to step in. Between those two scenarios, which one do you tend to lean toward?

Serving God with humility can be difficult because it’s not an easy task. And it’s not as though a spotlight shines down on from heaven every time we get it right, announcing our accomplishments to the world.
It takes our time, talent and treasure to serve Him with grace and do it humbly and discreetly. Time, we feel we don’t have; talent we think we lack and treasure we may be saving for something else. And when we do hard things—sacrificing our time, talent and treasure, we naturally want people to notice. We want to hear “Well done!” from our peers so that others can see how important we are in this world.

So, what is humility? C.S. Lewis says, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” Biblically, humility means putting God above ourselves and placing others before us.

The world often defines humility as weakness or having a low opinion of oneself. But being insignificant in the world’s eyes gets us nowhere. Instead, the world urges us to showcase what we have done for others so they will recognize our greatness.

Yet Jesus performed many miracles in secret. He did not boast about Himself but gave God all the glory for everything He did. Humility isn’t about thinking less of yourself because you believe you lack what it takes. Humility is falling before the Father and saying, “Use me, Lord, and to You be all the glory and praise. Take me out of it, and let the world see You in everything I do.”

Jesus showed us this. He is the perfect example of leading with humility. Philippians 2:4 says, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

And in verses 6–11 Paul writes: 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus, becoming flesh and living among us—surrounded by all our sin and filth—showed us what it means to lead with humility. He lived 30 years on this wretched earth before even going public, declaring that He was the Son of God. Then, for three more years, He continued to walk with humility—not boasting about Himself, but giving glory to His Father!

He understood what He had to endure to fulfill God’s promise of salvation for all of us. He made Himself nothing so that we could gain everything. He lived as a carpenter, not as a king. He came as a servant, not as a saint. And in God’s perfect time, Jesus was exalted to the highest place—King of kings and Lord of lords—to reign forever at His Father’s side.

Be careful—the Enemy can use your good deeds to inflate your pride, leading you to seek approval from people rather than from God. He can also twist humility into self-hatred, convincing you of the lie that you don’t have what it takes to serve God with your time, talents and treasures.

But God created you uniquely, equipping you with gifts and abilities to serve Him. Whether you save lives in the operating room or answer a desperate cry for help over the phone at 2am, God is working through you for His glory.

In His perfect timing, He will lift you up. And when we serve with humility—honoring God instead of ourselves—He receives all the glory.

God, I pray this week we’ll have opportunities to serve You with humble hearts, valuing Your approval above the approval of man. May our confidence come from the strength of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen