“…for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).
Jesus is consistent. Throughout the Gospel of Luke, he forces us to face up to the ongoing paradox of the Christian life: we are to walk that fine and tenuous line between confidence and humility. Our confidence is in God. Our humility recognizes where we stand in relation to God.
But the paradox deepens. Just as we begin to get the hang of humility, human nature takes over. We become proud of being humble. There is something in us that seems inevitably prone to wander, to lose our grip on a good thing. Humility is clearly a definitive Christian calling. And yet by all standards and by its very nature, it is one of the toughest virtues to pull off.
So here is the Christian conundrum in needing to admit the truth: all that we are and all that we have comes from God. We do not deserve it. We cannot earn it. We can never repay it. We will never fully understand it. Therefore we must share it graciously, give thanks constantly, and be humble consistently. This is the difficult but very biblical calling for us all.