Oh, dear friend, take a moment and meditate on the humility of Christ in this passage. Jesus—Lord of heaven and earth—humbled Himself and became a helpless human baby born to a lowly Jewish family under Roman rule. The Word of God became flesh (John 1:1)!
As if this humble birth were not enough, Jesus purposefully became a servant. He “emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant.” Jesus “came not to be served, but to serve, and give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
And then He humbled Himself lower still by becoming obedient to the point of death. Our Jesus said to the Father, "Not my will, but Yours be done" (Luke 42:22b) in the Garden of Gethsemane. Though the agony of soul was great, He yielded in obedience to the Father.
But the humbling was even more significant than death; Christ humbled Himself so low to die a criminal's death on a cross. Crucifixion was known to be the worst sort of death—torturous and agonizing—and reserved for the worst criminals.
Paul describes it in Galatians 3, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” (Galatians 3:13).
Jesus—pure, perfect, righteous, worthy, beloved, just, and holy Lamb of God—became a curse for you so that you might become the righteousness of God. Now, you are a child of God, free from the curse of separation from God because of Christ’s humble sacrifice. You enjoy the presence and power of God because Christ took your sinfulness and gave you His righteousness. As I consider the humility of Christ, my heart aches with gratitude.
When I uncovered my husband’s sin, my pride was evident in how I looked down on him for his failure. I was high-minded, thinking that I was better because I didn’t sin in the same way. This prideful attitude remained until I was challenged by a true friend to examine my heart before the Lord. What I saw in my own heart (my sin struggles) humbled me and created a desire in me to walk the road of repentance with my husband instead of looking down at him judgmentally from the high road of pride.
Several years ago, a woman wrote to me very upset about what she called her husband’s “convenient conversion.” The husband, a professing believer, active and respected in their church, was secretly involved with immorality. When everything was uncovered, the man was devastated and told the pastor that he didn’t believe he had ever been truly converted because he had always been living a double life. At this point, he confessed his sins, sought forgiveness, made a profession of faith and was baptized.
The whole church was rejoicing, but the wife was furious. She said she couldn’t believe her husband was going to “get away with all he had done,” all because of his “convenient conversion.” I gently pointed out that every conversion is “convenient” for the sinner, but no conversions are cheap; they cost our Lord His life. Yes, her husband sinned, but so do we all. We all have sinned and deserve death and hell, but we don’t receive what we deserve because of Christ’s finished work on the cross.
I urged her to remember Christ and His words in Luke 15:10, “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” If there is joy in Heaven when a sinner repents then certainly there should be joy in the church, in our homes and in our hearts when anyone (especially our spouse) repents. To view repentance any other way reveals sin in our own hearts. Christ humbled Himself and died on the cross for all of our sins; it is the height of pride to desire or demand a higher payment for sins than His precious blood.
Question 3. After considering the humility of Christ, have you been humble in your attitude towards your spouse? Please share.
Log in / create an account to enroll or continue where you left off.