Humility Comes Before Honor

Does humility come before honor? Proverbs 15:33 and 18:12 tell us it does. But look around. Is that what you see?

Many politicians, athletes, entertainers, business leaders, academics – and even pastors – show little sign of humility. Instead, they exalt themselves, making sure everyone knows how great they are, and how inferior others are (especially those they see as competitors).

And if we’re honest, we must admit that we too are tempted to self-exaltation. This displays itself:

  • When we twist a story to make ourselves look better
  • When we mishandle a responsibility and try to cover up what happened
  • When we work harder to improve our external appearance than our internal character
  • When we respond to someone else’s success by speaking of our even greater success.

Furthermore, self-exaltation often seems to work. Others may well believe my twisted story that makes me look good. Self-promoting politicians often win elections.

Sure, we sometimes see the proud disgraced, the boaster brought low. But not always. Indeed, from our perspective, not in most cases.

So what is Scripture saying?

Consider Proverbs 15:33 in its entirety:

The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor. (ESV)

The two halves of the verse are in parallel: Humility comes before honor as the fear of the Lord comes before wisdom. Furthermore, humility and the fear of the Lord go together. When we see and acknowledge how great God is and how small we are, we necessarily humble ourselves before Him. This humbling is one part of wisdom – and one necessary step to honor from God.

Seen in this light, the honor mentioned here is not honor from men. While humility on occasion will lead to honor from men, oftentimes it will not. But a humility tied to the fear of the Lord – a humility that bows before Him, that admits sinfulness and rebellion, that delights in Jesus as Lord, Savior, and Treasure – that humility always leads to honor from God.

Scripture emphasizes this truth again and again:

  • Isaiah: “The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.” (Isaiah 2:11 and 17)
  • A psalmist: “Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed– and though you get praise when you do well for yourself– his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light. Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.” (Psalm 49:16-20)
  • Mary: “And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” (Luke 1:50-53)
  • James: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:10)
  • Peter: “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” (1 Peter 5:5b-6)
  • Jesus: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12 – see also Luke 14:11 and 18:14)

So, yes: Humility comes before honor – the only honor worth pursuing, the honor and exaltation given by God. Humble yourself before Him – and He will give you the honor of saying to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joy of your Master.” (Matthew 25:23)

The Path to Honor, the Path to Disgrace

What is the path to honor?

We don’t have to look far in our society to find those who have achieved considerable earthly honor through their hard work combined with their self-promotion. Whether in business, in politics, in sports and entertainment – and even within the Christian church – we see example after example of people working on their craft, marketing themselves, and thereby acquiring some degree of fame. There are many coaches, consultants, and schools who – for a fee – will teach you how to be among those who successfully exalt themselves.

But Scripture warns us, “God opposes the proud” (1 Peter 5:7); “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled” (Luke 14:11).

Yet God’s Word also gives us a promise in these same verses: God gives grace to the humble; he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Jesus tells a brief story to illustrate this point:

Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. (Luke 14:31-32)

You are the first king. You have resources: Your physical abilities, your intelligence, your training and education, your experience, your skills, your contacts, your finances. Perhaps these are quite impressive compared to others. Like the first king with ten thousand, you can look at who you are and what you have and think: “I can go somewhere! I can exalt myself! I can achieve something!”

If you take the world’s advice and exalt yourself, you may well achieve a degree of honor for a time. Perhaps in a worldly sense you will acquire considerable fame because of great accomplishments.

Yet whether you realize it or not, by acting in this way you are advancing in war against the second king. And that second king is God Himself. For you are acting in pride – and as we saw, God opposes the proud. Furthermore, His fighting force is far beyond yours. If He opposes you, you will be humbled; you will be thrown down; in the end, you will lose all the fame, all the status, all the honor that you thought you had gained.

So like that first king going out to war, you have two options. The first option is to sue for peace. He will demand unconditional surrender to Jesus. This means that you will have to renounce all that you have (Luke 14:33). All that is yours becomes His: All your goods. All your family. All your time.

However, He then will give you His grace. He will exalt you. He will give you Jesus Himself – the greatest treasure, the greatest honor, the greatest joy.

That’s the first option. The cost is high. But the benefit is incalculable.

Your second option is to enter into battle with Him. To fight Him. To oppose Him.

If you choose option two, you will hold onto your fame and your resources a little longer compared to option one. While the battle is engaged, you can continue to be impressed with yourself. But your 10,000 cannot fight His hordes. The end is inevitable. He will overwhelm you. He will humble you. Option two is the path to disgrace. One day you will lose everything. And you will have to confess what you refused to acknowledge before: Jesus is indeed Lord (Philippians 2:10-11).

So note: Whether you choose option one or option two, eventually you lose all that you now have. That cost is the same.

But under option one, He exalts you. He lifts you up. He gives you what you never earned, what you clearly don’t deserve, what you can never be proud of: one hundred times more joy than you had from what you gave up, as well as the greatest gift of all: Himself, for all eternity (Mark 10:28-31).

So acknowledge what is true. Realize your position. You have no ability to achieve any lasting honor; if you resist Him, you will lose all. Humble yourself under God’s mighty hand. This is the path to honor. And the greatest honor is that He will give you what you could never earn: Himself.