Read Isaiah 57:1-15

“For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isaiah 57:15)

How can a man think to obtain humility? There is not a humble strand of hair upon our heads, nor a single contrite beat within our hearts. Pride is the legacy of sinners, not humility. How can we possibly think to strive for such a virtue? The answer lies, not within ourselves, but within "the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity!”

The picture painted in this chapter of Isaiah is gruesome. The first part of the chapter describes in explicit detail the idolatrous sins of Israel, which included the sacrifice of their own children on the rocks of false gods (see Isaiah 57:5), and the practice of perverse sexual immorality on the mountain tops to false deities (see Isaiah 57:7). Such sins can barely be meditated on before we shiver in disgust over them.

Yet - despite such transgressions as these, the only true God - the High and Lofty One - was ready and willing to offer them a pardon and healing of their sins if they would just humble themselves before His Mighty hand. Oh! — what grace and mercy God has for mankind! Idolatry breeds pride, and pride the heaping up of sins, but God breeds humility, and humility the healing of our sins.

Thus, it is only when a man encounters the True and Living God can he be humble, for he is immediately humbled in God's presence.

This is the dwelling place of humility. This is where humility originates — in the presence of God. There is no better proof of this than Christ Jesus our Lord. God Himself put on humility like a crown when He walked among us as Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, True God of True God, was the only humble Man through and through because He came from Heaven. What divine irony is this? — that the God of glory becomes humility incarnate?

Therefore, Beloved, we must as well make humility the crown of our lives as our Savior did. But humility cannot be birthed from ourselves or through personal striving or acts of piety. Humility cannot be acquired by becoming physically humble in appearance or perception. Humility can only be found at the feet of Jesus. Humility can only be caught in the presence of our Savior who Himself became our servant.

It is here, in this place, that God revives our inner beings and sets us forth as a vessel of honor ready for the Master's use. As followers of Christ, we must be humble people, but to be humble people we must truly be followers of Christ.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:5–8)

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