As you may already know if you have read our blog or listened to our podcast in the past, my word for 2023 is humility.
At the beginning of the year, I had no idea all that God had to teach me about humility this year, but as I sit typing out this blog post at the end of the year, I am blown away at the revelations and lessons learned along the way.
And, of course, God had a lesson for me right at the end of the year on this topic in regards to the Christmas story I have heard all of my life.
Whether it was being an angel in the church I grew up in's Christmas play as a kid (and to this day, having the conversation between the angel Gabriel and Mary memorized because of it) or watching The Chosen's Christmas special as an adult, the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke is one I am more than familiar with.
It is one of those stories in Scripture that I have to really focus in when I read and not let myself get distracted, thinking I know everything there is to know about it already. This year was no different, and the Holy Spirit definitely gave me new perspective.
What we see on display throughout the Christmas story is this: humility.
(I encourage you to go read Luke 1 and 2 and Matthew 1 and 2 right now and then continuing this post.)
It took humility for Mary, a young virgin, to surrender to God's Will of her carrying the Messiah, no matter what it may cost. It took humility for Joseph to obey God and raise a baby who was not his biological child as his own. It took humility for Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, to say this to Mary, her younger relative: "But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:43). It took humility for Zechariah to listen to what the angel said and name his son, John, even when the people did not understand it. It took humility for the shepherds to come to baby Jesus and then tell others of Him. It took humility for the wise men to bring gifts to a child and worship Him as the King of kings.
Last, and most important, it took humility for Jesus to leave Heaven's glory to come to Earth as a little baby and take on human flesh. The God of the universe came to Earth and was born to a normal, "unimportant" girl in a manger. What is more humble than that?
I love Christmas lights, decorations, cookies, and movies more than the average person, but I do think sometimes we can let these things cloud our vision of how humble Jesus' birth really was.
He humbled Himself for us. He did not have to. He chose to. Because He loves us.
I want to follow His example, humble myself, and love others well. What about you?
Now, to close out this post, take the time to read Philippians 2:3-11 below and meditate on the beauty of the humility of Jesus:
"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
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