Spurgeon on Humility

In studying for Sunday I came across a message Charles Spurgeon gave on Humility. This was such a great sermon that I thought I would share some of it with you.

Spurgeon said, “I would not advise any of you to try to be humble, but to be humble. As to acting humbly, when a man forces himself to it, that is poor stuff. When a man talks a great deal about his humility, when he is very humble to everybody, he is generally a canting hypocrite. Humility must be in the heart, and then it will come out spontaneously as the outflow of life in every act that a man performs."

I like the fact that he says that he would not advise anyone to try to be humble, but to be humble. So many times that defines us isn't it. We are making an effort to be humble and while we are we're thinking to ourselves "am I being humble". If you have to ask the question then you probably are not being humble. I do believe like Spurgeon that once you speak of humility in yourself, it no longer is humility.


Spurgeon’s sermon applied the idea of how to walk humbly with your God:

* Walk humbly when you are spiritually strong (Do not be proud like you have achieved something on your own. Remember that without the Holy Spirit you would be a spiritual weakling)

* Walk humbly when you have much work to do (Do not act like you are "all that" because you are busy)

* Walk humbly in all your motives (This is really what it's boiled down to. This is a heart issue. Why do you do what you do?)

* Walk humbly studying God’s word (Don't believe it's your intelligence or your insight. You are not as smart as you think.)

* Walk humbly when under trials (Do not boast in your trials or how you are enduring your trials. Let your life show how you are doing.)

* Walk humbly in your devotions (Understand that anything you gain from your time in the Word is from God and not from you. Your consistency in the quite time is not you, but the Lord in you.)

* Walk humbly between you and your brothers in Christ (In today's culture this is the difficult one, isn't it. We are taught that you boast in how great you are. You flaunt your talent and humiliate others through your talent. I once heard a talented athlete say that his talent was from God to show others humility, by humiliating them. Wrong!)

* Walk humbly when dealing with sinners (We need to remember that we once were sinners to. We should never lord our salvation over those who are not saved. We should also not expect them to act like believers.)

“True humility is thinking rightly of thyself, not meanly. When you have found out what you really are, you will be humble, for you are nothing to boast of. To be humble will make you safe. To be humble will make you happy. To be humble will make music in your heart when you go to bed. To be humble here will make you wake up in the likeness of your Master by-and-by.”