But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Matthew 20:25-28This text shows us that this woman wanted fame and recognition for her two sons, and possibly for herself as well. There are really only two standards of greatness - the world's standard and the Lord's standard. Very few people can be great according to the world's standards, but all can be great according to the Lord's standards. How can we do this? We can do it if we possess the great quality of humility.
Humility towards sin
Many people think they can live "above" sin. Many denominations even teach a false doctrine called "total sanctification," the false view that some are totally out of the reach of sin and its penalties.Some believe that sin is not all that serious. They choose to minimize it as trivial and expect it to fade away with time. The Bible tells us, though, that sin is not a trivial matter at all.
Some think that their sins can be concealed. They fear that their sins will be found out and so they try to keep their sinful activity concealed from others. Though one may succeed in doing this, let us remember that God sees all of these sins.
Some even take pride in their sins. They want to be looked up to and applauded for their their sins. The truth is sin never makes any one of us great.
Humility toward sin means being willing to do something about our sins.
Humility toward service
The world wants to be served rather than to serve. In regards to service, we tend to think of "big" things as the most important, and fail to realize that great work is done by individuals - great acts of service are done on a very "small" scale. And so even though there is nothing wrong with working for God on a grand scale, we each need to remember that this is not the only way to serve - we each have an obligation and a duty to carry out our on individual tasks for the Lord.Humility toward self (Galatians 6:3; 2 Corinthians 12:11)
God does not look at us through our own eyes. He looks at us through His own. When he sees us, does He see too much pride? Does He see too much attention on "self?" Or.. does He see humility?Growing in humility is a part of growing closer to God. We are to humble ourselves in the sight of God. If we do this, we have the promise that God will lift us up.
Galatians 6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
2 Corinthians 12:11 I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.
