“Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3)
Humility comes out of relationship. It doesn’t come from a seven-step formula. It doesn’t come from a try-hard attitude.
Moses spoke face to face with God. He entered the tent of meeting, and when he came out, he glowed from his communion with the Lord. The Israelites were terrified. They asked Moses to cover his face with a veil. Even the residue glow from Moses’s intimacy with the Lord was too awesome for the Israelites to bear.
Can you imagine such intimacy?
You don’t have to imagine it. It’s yours for the experiencing. We are all allowed into the tent of meeting, thanks to the blood of Christ which has torn down the barrier. We are all allowed a face to face conversation with the living God.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:17-18.
Our transformation from pride to humility takes place as we relate with him and reflect his glory—as we live our own Moses-like experience.
Let me flesh this idea out. Our relationship with the Lord has tangible expressions of prayer (conversation with him), scripture reading (listening to him), and worship (adoring him alone and together with others). The more we engage in these tangibles, the more we glow. And vice versa. Lack of prayer, Bible-reading, and worship, leads to a dim reflection and makes growing in humility impossible. There’s nothing legalistic about it. It’s just the simple truth: a relationship only flourishes between people who—surprise—relate!