THE PATH TO MORE GRACE
James 4:6-10 NKJV
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
This has always been a very straightforward revelation about God. We present a compassionate, gracious Heavenly Father, and rightfully so. We believe in a God whose tender mercies are over all His works, and that is also correct. We do not often speak of the God who resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Grace is God’s power and favor on our behalf, and it’s extremely valuable to our lives.
This resistance is understandable from the standpoint of salvation. Someone who is proud believes they do not need God. Humility is required in order to recognize ourselves as sinners in need of grace. Humility also recognizes that grace is not something we earn but something that God gives unconditionally to those who acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior.
However, in our verses for today, we see some other elements of humility. I don’t know about you, but I need and want more of God’s grace in my life. Grace to live right before Him. Grace to be a good husband, father, and grandfather. I need a whole lot of grace to be a good pastor. So, because I need more grace and God gives more grace to the humble, I obviously need to learn more about humility. And verses 7-10 give insight as to what humility looks like.
Humility submits to God. Submitting is not submitting until you have to yield to something you don’t feel like or agree with. Forgiveness comes to mind. I often don’t feel like forgiving, but the scriptures are clear, and I don’t have to pray about whether or not I should forgive someone who has hurt me. Pride says, I am not going to forgive until I am good and ready. Humility says, Lord, I am doing this in obedience and submission to you. But there is grace right there. So then I resist the enemy, and he has to leave. Instead of being tormented with anger and revenge, I can resist those emotional arrows after I have submitted to God.
Humility draws near to God. I am not waiting for God to do something spectacular in my life or have a tragedy move me. I make the move to come closer to Him. I can do that in prayer and in my devotional life by seeking His Kingdom, by worship and praise, and by my words and actions. I am moving closer to God, and there is grace there as He comes closer to me.
Cleansing our hands and purifying our hearts is also humility. This means we are putting away the sins that tend to trip us up the most. And we are focusing on His words and the leading of His Spirit as opposed to entertaining contrary thoughts. Jesus had to have been extremely single-minded, and He is our example.
The lamenting, mourning, and weeping appear to be the reaction of those who are in the cleansing and clarifying that the previous verse speaks of. I do not believe this is an admonition to be down and oppressed because we know the joy of the Lord is our strength. But there is a godly sorrow when we have missed it. Humility is not casual and cavalier about God and our lives before Him. Pride blows things off, but humility is genuinely repentant.
Verse ten is the summation of walking in humility. Notice that we humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord. This means two things. One, the Lord does not humble us; we humble ourselves. Two, humility is in the sight of the Lord not the sight of men. There is a false humility that plays out before men, but true humility comes from our heart and it’s to the Lord.
Remember, the result of humility is not humiliation. As we humble ourselves, we receive more grace, and God lifts us up. The topic of humility may not sound exciting, but the more we know, the more we value the work of humility in our lives.
PRAYER
Dear Father, I am in need of Your grace in every area of my life. Show me what true humility is and how that looks in my life. I want to be lifted up by You, not resisted by You.