To follow Jesus is to imitate Him. But what should we learn from Him? Sacrifice? Rely on God? Zeal for preaching? All of these are important, but the Bible repeatedly tells us to imitate the meekness and lowliness of Jesus Christ.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Pride is the beginning of sin. The archangel Lucifer fell and became Satan because of his pride. He kept calling himself "I" and exalted himself. Pride is the first step to sin.

Humility is not inferiority complex, it does not mean thinking less of yourself or looking down on yourself. Parents are used to saying, "Don't praise him so much, lest he become proud." In fact, letting people discover their strengths is an expression of love and cherishment. It is a beautiful thing for people to know their strengths and make contributions. This does not necessarily make people proud.

On the contrary, people with low self-esteem are proud people. People with low self-image cannot accept themselves and like to compare themselves with others, which is where problems arise. The reason for inferiority complex is comparing with others. If you think that this person is better than me in this way, or that person is better than me in that way, you will feel inferior. Babies will not feel inferior. They will not feel inferior when they see other babies. Only the babies' parents will feel inferior.

Humility is accepting your true self after knowing it. It does not mean thinking that you are useless, nor does it mean hypocrisy. When someone who knows how to sing claims that he can't sing, it's not humility but hypocrisy. Humility is acknowledging that God has given me certain strengths, talents, and abilities, and I use what the Lord has given me to glorify God. This is humility. I recognize the talents and gifts God has given me, accept myself, and use these gifts and talents to glorify God. However, I still need to continue to develop and utilize my strengths and continue to grow. This is humility.

Many people cannot accept that they have needs because of their pride. Today, many people find it difficult to ask for help, and are unwilling to admit problems. They prefer to keep family disgrace secret and cover up their mistakes for fear of being looked down upon. This is pride, worthless pride.

I heard some Christians say that because they had made mistakes, they were afraid to go to church anymore. They felt that they were not good enough and wanted to escape. This is again the inferiority complex that comes from pride.

Jesus said that to follow Him we must learn His meekness and humility and deny ourselves. To understand how humility can be lived out, we can learn three manifestations of humility from three passages that directly call on us to imitate Jesus.

1. Humility produces good learners – Matthew 11:28-30

Here Jesus directly said: "Learn from me!" How to learn? Jesus said, "Take my yoke upon you." What is a yoke?

In Jesus' time, most people were farmers. There were no modern machines, so they used oxen to plow the fields and turn the soil. Usually they would use a pair of oxen because they could walk straight. A yoke is a wooden yoke placed on the neck of an ox, and the farmer uses the yoke to control the ox. The yoke is also a tool used to train calves. Farmers will use a high and a low yoke to yoke the big cow and the calf, so that the big cow can control the calf and prevent it from running around. So the yoke is a tool to train obedience.

Jesus said, "My yoke is easy" because the big bull has already borne most of the weight of the calf, and the calf cannot carry more than it can carry. Jesus said, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me," which means that we must obey and be submissive, and the direction of our lives should follow our Heavenly Father, just like a calf following an ox. Disciple means one who is taught, and following means to obey.

But the spirit of this world is the opposite. People like to go their own way and be their own masters. If you try to train them like an ox with a yoke on it, they will resent it. Many people like to follow Jesus, but they just don't like to bear Jesus' yoke and are unwilling to be taught. Today many people say they are following Jesus, but in fact they are following themselves, doing what they like to do. In fact, they are killing themselves.

Many people are unwilling to obey because they are clever. Some people have great potential, but are self-righteous, and as a result they run into obstacles everywhere and cannot develop their own lives. On the contrary, some people are not very talented, but they study hard and are diligent and studious, so they can go very far.

Therefore, the first thing we need to learn from Jesus is to bear His yoke, be a humble learner, allow God to guide us, and obey God's guidance.

2. Humility helps us accept injustice – 1 Peter 2:19-23

This passage says that Christ left us an example for us to follow. What kind of role model is this? It means not to fight back when being scolded, and not to say threatening words when being victimized. This is humility, entrusting oneself to the Lord who judges.

The Bible says that if we do good and still suffer injustice, this is pleasing in the eyes of God. If you do something wrong and are criticized, it is reasonable; but if you do nothing wrong but are wronged, ordinary people will be deeply indignant, and even Christians do not want to be treated unfairly.

But Jesus endured injustice and unfair treatment throughout his life. The Bible says, "For to this also you were called...that you should follow in His steps." Jesus could endure because He humbly trusted in His righteous Father and did not force His own rights. Therefore, He could suffer loss and bear the sins of the world. A humble person can deny himself, and this is the example that the Bible repeatedly encourages us to follow.

Those who deny themselves may suffer losses, because the Lord's eyes are watching over the oppressed. It is much better to entrust oneself to the Lord who judges righteously than to seek justice for oneself. The Lord said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." The sovereignty of judgment belongs to the Lord. We do not need to judge or punish others. Let God avenge us! When others treat us evil, all we have to do is repay evil with good and overcome hatred with love.

Some things happen to us and seem to be unfair, but the Lord is gracious, and there is always His good purpose in what He allows to happen. Heavenly Father will not mistreat His own children. We just need to follow Jesus' humble example and entrust ourselves to the Lord who is both merciful and just.

3. Humility makes us willing to serve others – John 16:13-15

The example here is one of humble service. But this was no ordinary service. Jesus is a teacher and a Lord. Should a teacher and a Lord wash the feet of their students? The roads at that time were all muddy and people wore shoes made of straw ropes. In wealthy families, there are water tanks outside the door for washing feet, and there are workers to serve. But Jesus and his companions were just a bunch of insignificant people, and no one washed their feet. So who would do it? Jesus said, "I am a teacher, I have come to wash your feet."

Humility means engaging in unsuitable, inappropriate, and abnormal service. In our normal job roles, we may not be willing to serve others, but it is still acceptable. But what if this service should not be done by oneself? Are we willing to follow Jesus' example and serve humbly, without complaint, and with joy for the sake of love? Such service tests whether a person truly follows Jesus' example of humility. When others see this, they will be moved and inspired to serve together.

People who serve humbly will do things that are not their responsibility, do things that no one else is willing to do, do things when it is inconvenient, and do things even if the other party does not deserve our service.

Imitate Jesus' Humility