A Cheerful Face

Moving from the book of Philippians to Proverbs in context to humility was an interesting transition. The passages in Philippians helped to ground us in the perfect example of humility through the life of Jesus Christ; we now have a model or standard set for us as we move through the teachings found in Proverbs.

Proverbs was written to help us as believers gain a better understanding of who God is, detailing His plan for our lives through examples and teachings of wise and foolish decisions. Although Proverbs highlights many principles and values that point to all areas of daily life the concept of Humility will be my focus. The word humility is recorded twelve times in the book of proverbs (NIV); three of those entries reference the importance of humility coming before honor. Part of our mission in life as Christians is to give honor and glory in all that we do to our Heavenly Father. When we seek honor for ourselves, when we take pride in all that we do our mission begins to fade. We are called to fear the Lord over and over in Proverbs, to fear the Lord we must give Him honor not seeking it for ourselves. Putting God first, humbling ourselves before Him and living that out in our lives brings honor to our lives as a reward from Him.

Humility gives us strength, when our hearts are right with God He provides good things in our lives. Proverbs 15:13, “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit”. That cheerful face connects with the heart and comes from a life lived in humility, when our lives are focused on ourselves or we have walls of pride built up around us we will experience a downfall (18:12). Understanding and living out a life of humility cannot be done in our own strength; we have to put aside the temptation of doing things on our own. It is through the power of prayer that we can overcome the experience of downfall and destruction and live a life with a happy heart and a cheerful face.