What is humility according to the Bible?
Humility is not thinking less of yourself — it is thinking of yourself less, because your heart is captured by God. It is the freedom to serve others without needing to be served, modeled supremely by Jesus.
The Bible's humility is not a low view of one's own worth — every person bears God's image and is dearly loved. It is rather a true view of oneself before God: dependent, sinful in need of grace, and made for others. C. S. Lewis put it well: humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.
Jesus is the great model. Philippians 2 describes him as one who, though in the form of God, 'did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant.' He washed the feet of his disciples; he died for those who killed him. Christian humility traces his shape.
It also has a promise attached. 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble' (James 4:6). The humble life is not weak — it is the only kind of life God's power can flow through. To grow in humility is to grow in receiving God's grace.
Original BibleDawn answer · reviewed 2026-06. Drafted with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.