“ “And it was told Samuel, ‘Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” (1 Samuel 15:12)
As Christians, we know that setting up a monument of ourselves is probably not being Spirit led. It reflects an attitude of self-focus, self-promotion, and self-exaltation; primarily, it reflect self at the center and Saul’s struggle with pride. Here were some of the circumstances that led Saul down this path:
Saul had success as a leader. All Isreal head it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines with three thousand men of Isreal between him and his son Jonathan.
When the pressure was on and the Philistines gathered with thirty thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore, many Isrealite fighters ran and hid, even surrendering and joining the Philistines. As a result, Saul began losing his nerve. When he only had 600 men left, he stopped waiting for Samuel and started taking things into his own hands as he failed to trust the Lord with the situation. He offered the sacrifice which also displays some pride on his part by this.
As the men of Isreal had been hard pressed, Saul laid an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies” (1 Samuel 14:24). Notice the subtle focus is on Saul? He draws the people to avenge him and not God. He is turning their hearts away from the Lord and on to worship and sacrifice for him. He is making himself central.
The edict Saul made had nothing to do with what was best for the troops or most glorified God. When Saul found out that Jonathan tasted honey, he was ready to kill him as a result—his very own son. It was Saul’s reputation and the order that he issued that made him merciless.
At the core of pride is making oneself central. And to walk in pride, one naturally also struggles with mercy and true justice. They are too focused on themselves to genuinely have care for others. It is more about their sphere of influence and that others treat them with respect (in their being central). In defending his centrality, it makes sense he would come hard after anyone who challenged him.
When Saul was charged with completely destroying Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have, he held back with the bounty. He defeated them but then kept the best items along with sparing the king as a symbol of status. He not only disobeyed the Lord, but was trying to win over the people from God by giving them the best bounty in disobedience and rebellion. He was the ‘great guy’ at the Lord’s expense.
Saul had become ineffective as a leader as he became the central focus. He became comfortable with power and began to attribute it all back to himself rather than God. As pride comes before a fall and Saul became puffed up with his own accomplishments, his choices became more corrupt and conflictual with the Spirit of God.
Timothy Geoffrion, in his book, The Spirit-Led Leader, notes that we are ineffective as a leader and out of balance when we allow the priority of the team shift away from effectively serving Christ’s purposes in the world. These leaders often woo people for the sake of their own gain; whereas “spiritual leaders win followers for the sake of Christ and to further the Kingdom of God.” [1]
As Christians, we are to be transformed from a self-centered focus to a God-centered and God-serving manner of living. We should grow in humility over time and become more free to be Spirit-led. Here, Saul was moving in the opposite direction. He became more and more distant from the purposes of God as he continued to feed his pride and focus on self. Sow to the wind and reap a whirlwind. Here Saul’s feeding of his pride led to disastrous places of murdering all the priests and trying to kill David (and his own son again).
Geoffrion points out, whenever there is undue focus and value on achievement, appearance, and status, there is increasing pressure to perform for people rather than serving God. An overemphasis on outcomes will often undermine one’s ability to create a positive, constructive, and spiritually rich environment that results in flourishing of the people and the overarching organization. [2]
Those who aspire to be effective as spiritually-led leaders, will first and foremost, focus on God. All their own efforts and the encouragement to their staff are to exalt Christ first and foremost. They will move themselves out from being central, and make the Lord central. Rather than being power focused, their lives will be Christ focused at every turn. They draw on what they have spiritually to further advance other’s spirituality. Geoffrion writes, “Christians who aspire to be vital and effective leaders will lead in ways that draw on their spiritual lives to the maximum degree possible.” [3]
When we look at the difference between Saul and David, there is a clear dividing line. David refused to do anything that dishonored the Lord. When tested, he chose the path that most glorified God, at his own expense. Where Saul shifted from drawing people onto himself, comparison, blame, gain and self-preservation.
David was much more effective as a leader. But this is because with David, the focus was all on God and not himself personally. David had his leadership rightly ordered and it caused the people under him to flourish. Even with the most difficult men (leaders) that followed him (the ones nobody else wanted), they became great because their own greatness was not their focus, glorifying David was not their focus, but glorifying God was what made David and those under him great.
Bill Johnson, in his newest book, The Holy Spirit, notes that the face of God is our ultimate quest. God possesses everything necessary for entering a fulfilling and adventurous relationship with each person on earth—at the same time. He always rejoices in having a heartfelt connection with those made in the image of God. And, it is in knowing Him, our purpose for being unfolds. He created us for a relationship with Him. [4]
Whenever our focus turns our seeking to be outside of God, putting something else above this, we get lost. Often that focus is self. Something gets our focus on ourselves and we get turned in a wrong direction. It is exactly our focus on self that also leads to arrogance / pride. We have success when we are self-sufficient, and we take all God’s credit. Turning things toward ourselves with others will lead to both insecurity as well as pride and arrogance.
Micah asks what the Lord requires of him and he gets back an answer, among a few other things to walk humbly with the Lord (Micah 6:8). Do we get that walking humbly with the Lord is one of the few handful of requirements He has for us?
In looking at being led by the Spirit, as many authors note, a key element is to walk humbly with the Lord. If we are out of alignment with this, we are not being led by the Spirit but walking away from Him. Bill Johnson pointed out in a recent sermon that when our mind isn’t under the Spirit’s influence, it opposes God. There is no neutral ground. [5]
So not being led by the Spirit, we are in opposition to God. Often, it can be distractions such as fears, resentments, offenses and other things that get us off course. If we embrace anxiety, fear, resentment and regret, it will lead us down a path that has no good outcome but repentance. At the root of anxiety and fear is misplaced trust. To not trust Him is the essence of foolishness. [6]
Our trust grows through our yielding, not striving or taking control. It takes trust to surrender and we nurture our relationship with Him, growing trust, by our surrendering and yielding.
Surrendering and yielding come from a place of humility. With being humble, the Hebrew word is tsana, Strongs #6800 and it conveys a demeanor or attitude of submission before God. It was required and highly valued in the Israelite culture, seen as essential for maintaining harmony and justice. [7]
Surrendering to God, with the willingness to obey whatever He says, is also the key to spiritual authority.[8] We see Him as the answer and not our own strength. This is why Paul boasted in his weaknesses, so that the power of God would rest upon him (2 Corinthains 12:9).
Proverbs 11:2 tells us that when comes pride then comes shame but with the humble is wisdom. Wisdom is attached to humility because the Holy Spirit is attached to those who walk in humility. Where pride, a sin, is far from walking with the Holy Spirit so it creates confusion and leads to disgrace.
The great leaders in the Bible all had this character trait in common: Humility. Moses was the most humble man on the face of the earth. And Noah, built the arc in the face of a flood never having come to the earth and certain mockery by everyone around. This took humility. Where we see Saul and Rehoboam, among others, were disgraced because of their pride.
Charles Stanely notes that, “growing in humility is a lifelong venture as you increase in knowledge of God’s word and appreciation for God’s work through Christ.”[9] What I love about the verse in Micah, is that humility is something done in the sight of and walking with God.
The hilariousness of it is that if we try hard to be humble, we end up being prideful about humility. Humility comes from seeing how incredible and great God is and who we are in comparison—deeply loved and a benefactor of His goodness.
When I first encountered Father God, I had a vision and could see how immense He was and how He had created everything over all time. I became disheartened and told Him, “I am not even a speck of dust in a moment of time.” He then spoke to me so powerfully, “Twila, I created you at the center of my heart.” I wept for days on end. I was so overwhelmed by Him, His immense beauty, and His love for me.
When we see how great He is, we are left with nothing to say. He says it all. He is all. To see Him, it leaves us humbled. Therefore, I would love to suggest that the primary way to seek humility is to meditate on Him, His word and seek to encounter God. He promises that if we seek Him with all our hearts, we will find Him. So let’s really seek and encounter Him. We will be humbled and left speechless.
Charles Stanely also has five suggestions for pursuing greater humility in our lives. They are [10]:
· Bodily Prayerfulness
· Rigorous Confession
· Regular Periods of Fasting
· Outward-Facing Intercession (for others)
· Others-Centered Conversation
I would note that prayer daily for humility is also a great way to grow into it. A friend of mine, who was a very humble man that I admired, gave me a Litany of Humility by EWTN which has been powerful to pray.
Another very humble man that I know gives away “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrance to others which is a great way to grow by example in humility. Brother Lawrence notes that by steadfast gaze on Him, the soul comes to a knowledge of God, full and deep, to an unclouded vision as all life is passed in unceasing acts of love and worship, of contrition and of simple trust, of praise, and prayer, and service. [11]
Such a beautiful picture of walking with God and encountering Him with humility. Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him. The humility of Enoch was great. How can we know this? Because God honored Him and the word say that it is the humble that He honors.
As our desire for this kind of relationship with the Lord increases, it will strengthen our resolve for humility. The more we encounter Him, the more we become intoxicated and willing to lay down our pride, our desire to be esteemed or praised, our need to be loved and preferred by others, our longing for approval and being consulted.
We were made for Him and we were made to walk in humility with Him through our lives. There is now better or rewarding place to be. Our lives just make sense when we walk humbly with Him. Not only this but we overflow with His compassion and mercy, the parts of doing justice and having mercy just ooze out of us everywhere we go.
Lord, grow us in humility. Help us to have this kind of relationship with you. We were made to walk humbly with You, help us to become all that you desire of us.
1-3. Geoffrion, Timothy, C. The Spirit-Led Leader: Nine Leadership Practices and Soul Principles. The Alban Institute, Herndon, VA. 2005.
4-6, 8. Johnson, Bill. The Holy Spirit: Who He Is and Why We Can’t Live Without Him. Whitaker House, New Kensington, PA. 2024.
7. Tsana, Strongs #6800. Located at: Strong's Hebrew: 6800. צָנַע (tsana) -- To be humble, to be modest. Last accessed: 11/11/24.
9-10. Stanley, Charles. Desiring God. You Are Not Nothing: Five Ways to Pursue Real Humility. November 15th, 2021. Located at: You Are Not Nothing: Five Ways to Pursue Real Humility | Desiring God. Last Accessed:11/11/24.
11. Brother Lawrance. The Practice of the Presence of God. May 1, 2004. Located at: Free PDF: "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence. Last Accessed 11/11/24.
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