Not Mine

In the Gospel of John, our Lord Jesus speaks frequently of His relation to the Father, of the motives by which He is guided, and of His consciousness of the power and spirit in which He acts. Though the word humble does not occur in these Scriptures, we can clearly see His humility on display. Listen to the Saviour’s words:

“The Son can do nothing of Himself” (John 5:19).

“I can of My own self do nothing …My judgment is just; because I seek not Mine own will” (John 5:30).

“I receive not honour from men” (John 5:41).

“I came … not to do Mine own will” (John 6:38).

“My doctrine is not Mine” (John 7:16).

“I am not come of Myself” (John 7:28).

“I do nothing of Myself” (John 8:28).

“Neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me” (John 8:42).

“I seek not Mine own glory” (John 8:50).

“The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself” (John 14:10).

“The word which ye hear is not Mine” (John 14:24).

These words teach us how the Almighty God was able to work His mighty redemptive work through Jesus Christ. It is this: He was nothing, that God might be all. He resigned Himself with His will and His powers entirely for the Father to work in Him. 

This is the true self-denial to which our Savior calls us—the acknowledgment that self has nothing good in it, except as an empty vessel which God must fill. Here we have the root and nature of true humility. If we understood this better and pursued it diligently, our humility would not be so superficial and feeble. We must learn of Jesus, how He is meek and lowly of heart.

Brothers and sisters: are you clothed with humility? Ask your daily life. Ask Jesus. Ask your friends. Ask the world. And praise God that there is displayed for you in Jesus a heavenly humility through which a heavenly blessedness can come to you.

—Condensed from Humility by Andrew Murray.

“Humility creates the vacuum that divine grace fills.” —John MacArthur