I love golden hour. A hushed anticipation fills me as the slant of the sun falls just so, casting a glow over everything within reach of its rays. The scenery suddenly lights up, its beauty evoking deep awe and worship as I drink in every moment before dusk falls. The petals of each flower, each blade of grass, the horses grazing in the field, and the children running around it are all changed by the light that falls on them.
Recently I was meditating on Psalm 34:5 which says, “Those who look to him are radiant with joy; their faces will never be ashamed.” That made me think of golden hour. Anything that “looks” to the sun is lit up and transformed. So it is when we look to Jesus.
Living in the Light
Both our world and our self-seeking hearts constantly tell us that beauty and goodness come from within. All we have to do, they say, is believe in that “inner goddess” and let her shine. But according to verses like Psalm 34:5, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Sufficiency and goodness and contentment don’t come from within—they come from Christ. He is the source of joy. His beauty is what illuminates our countenance.
When we grow discouraged by our insufficiency—when we’re tempted to despair at the selfishness and pride in our hearts—we simply need to turn our eyes upward to Him. This is a posture of humility because we’re acknowledging that He is higher than us and that we were created to glory in—and glorify—Him. Our lives are to be a light that draws others to Him (Matt. 5:14–16). As we humble ourselves, lifting our face to His light, we find the incredible joy we were created for.
Scripture speaks again and again about the glory we gain from a posture of humility—when we choose lowliness rather than pride.
- “For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; he adorns the humble with salvation” (Psalm 149:4).
- “All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5).
- “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:10).
Humility is the channel through which God lavishes His favor upon us, beautifying us from the inside out. But humility isn’t our natural bent. We’re inclined to stiffen with pride, thinking that upholding ourselves or proclaiming our own goodness beautifies us when the opposite is true. Choosing pride and self-honor over humility is like trying to recreate the glory of golden hour by shining a flashlight onto ourselves. It sounds silly when put that way, but it’s a sad reality. Choosing the way of humility is something we can do only by God’s grace. And, praise Him, He provides that grace in abundance.
As we seek the Lord to gain a greater heart for humility, here are three things from God’s Word for us to consider.
1. Humility is an act of obedience.
As we look in Scripture, we see that there are various ways of being humbled. One way is God humbling those who stand in pride and disobedience toward Him. We see an example of this with Pharaoh and the plagues God brought when he refused to let the Israelites go free (Ex. 10:3). However, there’s another option that is far better: choosing to humble ourselves before God in reverence and love.
A common theme in many verses on humility is that it’s something we “put on” or act upon (1 Pet. 5:5; James 4:10). Our flesh will always fight against the way of humility, but we have the ability through Christ, by His indwelling Spirit, to deny the flesh and choose the humility that brings true joy and honor. We see this illustrated in Jesus’ words in Luke 14:10, “But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ You will then be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
God delights to honor those who willingly adopt a posture of humility, because it’s following in His footsteps and example (Mark 10:45).
2. The world will reject this beauty.
Assuming a truly godly posture of humility may be offensive to those who aren’t walking in the light of the truth of God’s Word. Those who consider themselves religious (or even Christian) but who do not measure right living against the Bible might look down on us for our obedience to Scripture. We’ll likely be considered arrogant for refusing to budge on unpopular biblical positions. But this is nothing new. Jesus’ disciples came running to Him, presumably in some degree of panic, saying, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” (Matt. 15:12).
Likewise, as His followers we need to be prepared for these kinds of responses. Those not truly walking with Christ and filled with His Spirit will see our obedience as foolishness (1 Cor. 2:14). When we’re tempted to grow discouraged or ashamed due to the opinions of those around us, all we need to do is turn our hearts and minds back to the bright and brilliant example of our Savior.
3. We need continual communion with God through prayer and His Word.
Because we’re so prone to wander and to be distracted by the superficial sheen of glory offered by this world, it’s important that we’re daily, continually turning our faces back to the Lord’s radiance through His Word and in prayer. This stokes the fire of our faith, keeping our spiritual lives glowing brightly in the midst of all the sinful and material elements that would try to snuff it out. We can all too easily be lured back into a self-aggrandizing way of living and thinking if we allow our soul’s gaze to drift from the glory of Christ.
This takes intentionality. We need God’s Word to remind us that, like John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). We need it to remind us that we can produce no good thing apart from Him (John 15:5). We need to be reminded that God cherishes the beauty of a “gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:4) rather than the brash and brazen attitude so championed in women in our culture today.
When our faces are lifted toward Christ—our eyes flooded with His glory—humility becomes our joy. As we bend our knees and raise our hands in adoration, our hearts understand more deeply that our whole purpose and greatest privilege is to reflect His glory. And just like a world awash in golden hour brilliance, when people look at us they witness a soul glowing in the radiance of His purifying light.
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