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BECOMING A HUMBLE SERVANT
A. Introduction: When Jesus was on earth, He called people to follow Him. To follow Jesus means to
seek to be like Him, to imitate His example. Jesus, through His example, shows us the end for which
we were created. He shows us our purpose and our destiny.
1. Almighty God created human beings to be His sons and daughters, who live in loving relationship
with Him. He created us in His image, as much like Himself as a creature can be like His Creator,
so that mutual relationship is possible. Gen 1:26
a. God not only created us for relationship, He made us with the capacity to receive Him into our
being (His Spirit and His life) and then image or express Him to the world around us. Matt 5:16
b. However, sin has disqualified us for our created purpose. Sin has corrupted God’s family and
cut us off from God and the life in Him. Rom 3:23
2. Jesus came into this world to die as a sacrifice for sin and open the way for us to be restored to
God’s family, and our created purpose as His sons and daughters who image and reflect Him.
a. Jesus not only opened the way back to our Creator and Father, Jesus, in His humanity, is also the
pattern for God’s family. Rom 8:29—For whom (God) foreknew He also predestined to be
conformed to the image of His Son (NKJV); (He) chose us to bear the family likeness of his Son
(J. B. Phillips).
b. Remember, Jesus is God become man without ceasing to be God (John 1:1; John 1:14). While
on earth Jesus lived as a man in dependence on God, His Father. In doing so, He showed us
what sons and daughters of God look like in character and behavior.
c. God’s plan and purpose for us is that we become His sons and daughters through faith in Jesus,
and then become increasingly like Jesus in our character and behavior. This is the most
important thing you can do with your life.
3. Becoming like Jesus is a process that begins when we believe on Jesus as our Savior and Lord. It
will be completed in connection with the second coming of Jesus, when our bodies are raised from
the dead and made incorruptible and immortal (Phil 3:20-21; I John 3:2). In this life, the process
involves cleansing, purity, and character development.
a. Cleansing is a legal term. It is the removal of the guilt of sin through faith in Jesus, on the basis
of His sacrifice at the Cross. Rom 5:1; Eph 1:7; Col 1:20-22; etc.
b. Purity is a moral term. You realize that certain behaviors are contrary to God’s standards, and
you stop them. Some go quickly, while others take work. You can be cleansed (forgiven), and
still have impurity in areas, but you’re working toward complete purity.
c. Character is the development of Christlike motives and attitudes. You can be cleansed and have
moral purity, but you still have unChristlike attitudes and motives.
1. Character develops as these motives and attitudes are revealed and dealt with. The Bible
works life a mirror. It shows us ourselves (good and bad).
2. And, with the help of the Holy Spirit, as we cooperate with Him and obey the Word of God,
we grow in Christlikeness (II Cor 3:18). We have more to say about this in tonight’s lesson.
B. When Jesus was on earth He told people: Matt 11:28-29—Come to me (follow me, seek to be like me),
all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from
me, for I am gentle (meek) and lowly in heart (humble) (ESV).
1. Note, the first things Jesus said that we are to learn from Him are character traits. Humility and
meekness were His chief character traits, and His followers are supposed to be meek and humble.
a. Humility literally means lowliness of mind. Humility recognizes its true relation to God.
Without Him I am nothing (Gal 6:3), I have nothing (I Cor 4:7), I know nothing (I Cor 8:2), and

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I can do nothing (John 15:5).
1. Humility toward God means little if it is not expressed toward others. True humility, the
one who is truly humble, recognizes that he/she is the servant of God and the servant of man.
2. Meekness literally means gentleness. It is the choice to control your reactions (especially
toward others) in voluntary submission to God and to your fellow man.
b. We are sons of God who also servants of God and servants of our fellow man (Rom 1:1; Eph
6:6; I Thess 1:9; I Pet 2:16; etc.). The most common Greek word for servant (slave) used in the
New Testament has the idea of voluntary service, to be devoted to and obey in a moral sense.
c. Jesus is our example of a servant: He humbled (lowered) Himself and became a man so that He
could die for us (Phil 2:7). And at the Last Supper, Jesus took the role of a servant and washed
His apostles’ feet, showing them what servanthood looks like between humans (John 13:13-16).
2. Something in us recoils at the thought of humbling (lowering) ourselves and being a servant, because
we’re all born with a tendency to elevate and exalt ourselves. We put ourselves above God and
other people when it suits us.
a. We inherited this corruption from Adam, the head of the human race. Adam (and man in
Adam) was created to be God-centered and dependent on God for everything. But Adam chose
independence from God through disobedience. He decided for himself what is right and wrong.
1. Adam acted contrary to his nature (what he was created to be) and his choice corrupted
(degraded, spoiled) his original condition. He became self-centered and self-focused.
2. His choice affected the human race in him. As a result, we are born self-focused, born with
an inclination toward selfishness. We put ourselves above God and others when it suits us.
b. There’s another name for this self-exaltation which expresses itself in selfishness—it’s pride.
You may be thinking: I’m not proud. I’m a terrible person. I beat myself up all the time.
That may be so, but notice that your focus is still on you.
3. Jesus died to change the focus of our lives toward Him, and then toward others: (Jesus) died for
everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they
will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them (II Cor 5:15, NLT).
a. To live to please Jesus means that your aim in everything you do, think, or say is to please Him,
just as He pleased God the Father—not my will but yours, Lord.
b. However, when Jesus called people to follow Him, to deny self and live for Him, He was talking,
not only about our behavior, but about our character. He was talking about being meek and
humble servants of God and of others.
4. Paul the apostle (an eyewitness of Jesus) wrote: Gal 5:13-14—For you brethren, were [indeed]
called to freedom; only [do not let your] freedom be an incentive to your flesh and an opportunity or
excuse for [selfishness], but through love you should serve one another (Amp). For the whole law
can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (NLT).
a. Note the contrast between selfishness and love. Note also that this love is expressed through
serving others. To serve another person means to treat them the way you want to be treated.
We could do an entire series on this passage. But consider several points for this discussion.
b. You can love people that you don’t like because this love isn’t a feeling, it’s an action. You and
I are commanded to treat others as we wish to be treated and as God has treated us.
1. Paul wrote a famous passage on love (I Cor 13:1-7). He opened by stating that even if I can
speak with the tongues of men and angels, have prophetic powers, faith to move mountains,
and give all that I have to the poor, if I don’t have love, I have nothing. I Cor 13:1-3
2. Note this statement: I Cor 13:1—(If I) have not love [that reasoning, intentional, spiritual
devotion such as is inspired by God’s love for us and in us], I am only a noisy gong or a
clanging symbol (Amp).

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3. This is a love that thinks: How has God treated me, and how would I want to be treated if I
were in the other person’s place?
c. Paul, in his epistle to the Philippians, as he instructed Christians on how to treat other people,
described what humility looks like in human interaction.
1. Phil 2:3-4—Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble,
thinking of others as better than you. Don’t think only about your own affairs, but be
interested in others, too, and what they are doing (NLT).
2. Phil 2:5-8—Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in
Christ Jesus. —Let Him be your example in humility (Amp). Though he was God, he did
not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble
position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled
himself by dying a criminal’s death on the cross (NLT).
d. The Greek word Paul used for mind means to be mindful of, be intent about. This humility isn’t
automatic. This humble attitude, this mindset, must be developed, and you must be intentional.
C. How we treat people is connected to how we see people and how we talk about people. To be a servant
of others, to treat people with humility and meekness, we must develop a new mindset, a new attitude.
1. We must learn to see people as God sees them. Jesus, our example, was able to treat people the way
He did in part because He saw men and women as valuable to God.
a. When the Pharisees murmured against Jesus for receiving sinners and tax collectors, Jesus told
those men three parables about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. Luke 15:1-3
1. In the case of the sheep and the coin, the owners searched diligently for their lost item, and
when they found it, they rejoiced greatly. Luke 15:4-10
2. In the case of the son who left home and ended up in a pigpen, when he came to his senses
and returned to his father’s house, his father welcomed him with love, cleansed and restored
him, and celebrated his return. Luke 15:11-32
b. Here’s the point for us. Neither the sheep, the coin, nor the son lost their value while they were
lost. But their value couldn’t be realized by their owners until they found them.
1. Jesus recognized that men and women, bound up with sin, are lost to their destiny, lost to
their created purpose—sonship and conformity to the image of Christ. Jesus came to seek
and save God’s lost family. Luke 19:10
2. Let me be clear. Humanity’s intrinsic value to God doesn’t remove the guilt of our sin.
Jesus came to pay for sin and make it possible for lost men and women to be cleansed from
the guilt of sin and restored to our created purpose through faith in Him.
2. We need to change the way we look at people, from seeing them as “stupid idiots” to seeing them as
beings who are valuable to God. Even in our fallen condition, humans still bear the image of God.
a. Note why God says that it is wrong to murder a human being: Gen 9:6—Yes, you must execute
anyone who murders another person, for to kill a person is to kill a living being made in the
image of God (NLT).
1. This doesn’t mean that you must like or agree with everything people do or say. We’re all
different, with different life experiences, opinions, preferences.
2. This is about changing our attitude and learning to see people from the standpoint of eternity
and their created purpose. This perspective helps us see their value to God and helps us treat
them as Jesus did and does. This attitude, this mindset, helps us love and serve people
b. What if you saw every person as a being created in the image of God, made to become His son
or daughter—and realized that what matters most is that they come to saving faith in Jesus?
1. One of the challenges with a lesson like this is that we all have specific situations with people

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we don’t like or who have harmed us in some way. This brings up questions: What does it
look like to love and serve these people? Do I have to hang out with them? Do I have to let
them take advantage of me and walk all over me? And, so on…
2. I can’t address specific situations. I can only give general principles and ask the Holy Spirit
to help us specifically apply them (more on specifics in later lessons). But I do know that all
of us will be more Christlike if we change how we think and talk about people in general
3. A big part of our problem with people is how we talk about them. We unconsciously assess people
negatively: That person looks ridiculous in those clothes. Why doesn’t that lazy person keep their
car clean. That person acts like an idiot. How could they be so stupid. So on and so on.
a. We live in a culture that constantly criticizes people. Social media thrives on giving us intimate
details about people and events that are none of our business. Our culture gives us permission
to talk about people we don’t know and make determinations about their character and
motivation which we can’t possibly know. We’re so used to this that it seems normal.
b. We need to catch ourselves before we call someone a stupid idiot, remind ourselves that men and
women are made in the image of God, and that God loves so much that He sent His Son to die
for them so that they can be restored to their created purpose.
1. Yes, there are times when we need to talk “negatively” to or about others in order to deal
with a problem. But when we habitually talk about peoples’ appearance, their I.Q, their
stupid decisions (etc.), we reinforce attitudes and motives in ourselves that make it harder for
us to see that person as valuable to God, or to see ourselves as a servant of God and man.
2. Note what James (an eyewitness) wrote: James 3:9—The tongue is an uncontrollable evil…
Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against
those who have been made in the image of God (NLT). James 3:2—We all make mistakes,
but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way (NLT).
4. The love we are to love others with thinks: How would I want to be treated if I were in their place?
However, most of us are not practiced at thinking. We are practiced at feeling.
a. Emotions are spontaneous. When we are offended, hurt, or don’t get our way, we get angry, we
want to lash out, pay back, get even, get revenge. It isn’t wrong to feel angry, hurt, offended, or
disappointed that you didn’t get your way.
1. Emotional responses are not wrong in and of themselves. However, emotions can and do
drive us to sin. Eph 4:16 says: Be angry and do not sin (NKJV).
2. How do you know if you have sinned when you are angry? In your anger, did you do or say
something to another person that you would not want done or said to you?
b. Paul, in his passage on love, wrote: Love believes the best: I Cor 13:7—Love bears up under
anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person (Amp),
1. Even if I believe someone’s opinion is wrong (if I know it’s wrong) I need to assume that he
arrived at his opinion and course of action through the best process he could—just like me.
2. We need to try to see people from their point of view—try to put ourselves in their place.
We need to think how would I want to be treated if I were them—like a stupid idiot or like a
person in need of God’s mercy and grace just like me. This will help us be humble servants.
D. Conclusion: Developing Christlike character is a process. Learning to see ourselves as servants who
treat others as we want to be treated takes effort and time. And we will make mistakes. Keep these
thoughts in mind as we work through this series.
1. The will to be Christlike comes before the performance. And purpose (intent, motive) is as
important as performance.
2. Set your heart on growing in Christlikeness and becoming a humble servant. More next week!