TODAY IN THE WORD
Benedict of Nursia, an important leader in the sixth-century Christian church, wrote about something he called the “Ladder of Humility.” This “ladder” had twelve “steps” or aspects: reverence for God; doing God's will; obedience or submission to others; enduring affliction or suffering for Christ; confession of sin; contentment; self-reproach (in the spirit of Ps. 22:6); obeying the common rule of the monastery (which in our day might mean submission to church leaders); silence or holding our tongues (in the spirit of Prov. 10:19); seriousness, meaning not given to giddy or silly laughter; simple or sensible speech; and humility rather than ostentatiousness in outward appearance.

“If we ascend all of these steps of humility,” Benedict wrote, “we shall arrive at that love of God which, being perfect, casts out all fear.” He understood well that humility must be a part of our daily Christian walk, that it should be a spiritual habit and action cultivated over time, and that humility and love are integrally related. Over the next six days, we'll carefully examine what humility looks like in the everyday walk of faith.

In today's reading, humility appears as one in a list of Christian virtues, a list that shows how goodness and holiness and intertwined. This “web of virtue” includes about sixteen qualities, including passion for righteousness, zeal for service, joy, patience, prayerfulness, and a forgiving spirit. These qualities help us not to be overcome by evil but to overcome evil with good (v. 21). They are all basically subsumed under the characteristic of genuine Christian love (v. 9). The person and power of the Holy Spirit undergird everything (cf. Gal. 5:22-23).

Humility is manifested in these verses in two commands. One is to “honor one another above yourselves” (v. 10; cf. Phil. 2:3). This is not a natural tendency! The other directive is not to be proud or conceited (v. 16). The implied reason for humility here is that Christ loved and died for us all equally.

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TODAY ALONG THE WAY
A good way to apply today's devotional would be to put verse 16 into practice on the job: “Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.” At work, we often focus on working with our peers or pleasing those in authority over us, which might make us functionally blind to “people of low position.” Open your eyes today and find one such person for whom Christ would want you to show love and respect.

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