Finding Joy in Humility

Sam Stringer

Dec 31, 2024

Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification.

And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to

whom you have testified-- behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!" John answered and

said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves

bear me witness, that I said,`I am not the Christ,' but,`I have been sent before Him.' He who has the

bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices

greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must

increase, but I must decrease.

John 3:25-30

There’s not a lot of words captured of John the Baptist in the Bible, but we know that he was dear to

Jesus (and his relative at that). One of the most powerful passages identifying John’s heart would be our

passage for today. We can learn so much from his attitude in light of his ministry being eclipsed by Jesus.

Notice that the followers of John at the time became alarmed at the shift of people coming for John and

now going to Jesus. This scenario is practically replicated immediately following the raising of Lazarus.

Listen to these words from John 11:44-48:

And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a

cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go." Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary,

and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and

told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said,

"What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in

Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation."

I once heard the statement that jealousy is the fear of losing what you think you have and envy is when

you want what someone else has. There is a mix of both towards the ministry of Jesus, but thankfully in

the passage of John 3, John the Baptist doesn’t freak out or put his foot down and refuse this. Rather,

John has the right mindset and says a few things to set the record straight:

1. “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” Meaning, God is sovereign

and no one gets promoted or demoted without God’s prior consent and will. You think this is

happening apart from His will? No, it wouldn’t happen unless God was bringing it to pass. Jesus said

something along these lines to Pilate when he made the remark in John 19:11, "You would have no

authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered

Me up to you has the greater sin." Simple interpretation of John’s word to his disciples: “guys, stop

freaking out. We follow God and God is doing this.” Learn to see the sovereign hand of God over the

affairs of life and it will help you much.

2. “You yourselves bear me witness, that I said,`I am not the Christ,' but, ‘I have been sent before Him.”

To put this simply and in bad grammar, “Guys, I ain’t Jesus.” Ministry is about pointing to Jesus, not

about finding a stage for ourselves. It’s not about our promotion, but His. If we take a back seat to

Him when people come to know Him, we should not pout; we should take delight. John the Baptist

recognized that his ministry was only to pave the path for the Messiah, not to pave the path for

himself. If a ministry or a church runs its course, and God is done with it, we ought not try to keep it

going perpetually if God says that He’s accomplished His plans (this happens sometimes when it’s

clear that a church is dead but the people refuse to let it go, even if they no longer care about

accomplishing God’s plans so long as the doors stay open). The coming of Jesus in His ministry in

the Gospels highlights the practical beginning of the end of John’s ministry, but this is not John’s

sorrow.

3. “This joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” Ah, the humility of recognizing that

our role is to support God’s purposes and not our own. The humility to step aside and to revel in the truth

that God has used you the way He pleased and that while your time on the stage may end, your level of

influence may recede, your fame may depart to the shadows, even your life may be “cut short,” it doesn’t

matter. It was all for the purpose of being used by God to do what He wanted for the season He wanted it.

Pride prompts people to never step aside, to always feel threatened when they see someone else on the

rise, to magnify their ministry because it’s their ministry and so forth, but humility is willing to take

whatever supportive role is necessary as God opens and closes doors of opportunity. C.S. Lewis wrote a

brief definition of humility in Mere Christianity that goes like this: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself,

but thinking of yourself less.” Do that and watch how peace washes over you where issues like frustration

or bitterness may have once reigned.

There is power and freedom in growing to not need to be the center of attention, to not need to be in

control, to not need to be popular or influential and rather to go with the flow of God’s guidance in our

moments, to not need to always have it your way. We should keep in mind, though, that John the Baptist’s

purpose was no less significant even when his ministry season began to die down. Every day God has

you here is no more or less significant one day from the next, though you may regard some days or

seasons as more important than others. It all matters in God’s sight.

My friend, find joy today in humility before God. Let your joy be fulfilled in God doing what He pleases and

you taking your cues no matter the direction. Be brave by not being insecure about the changes and

seasons of life. Find your confidence in God’s loving hand over you rather than your roles and the like. Be

blessed today.

Sam Stringer

Finding Joy in Humility

Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification.

And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to

whom you have testified-- behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!" John answered and

said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves

bear me witness, that I said,`I am not the Christ,' but,`I have been sent before Him.' He who has the

bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices

greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must

increase, but I must decrease.

John 3:25-30

There’s not a lot of words captured of John the Baptist in the Bible, but we know that he was dear to

Jesus (and his relative at that). One of the most powerful passages identifying John’s heart would be our

passage for today. We can learn so much from his attitude in light of his ministry being eclipsed by Jesus.

Notice that the followers of John at the time became alarmed at the shift of people coming for John and

now going to Jesus. This scenario is practically replicated immediately following the raising of Lazarus.

Listen to these words from John 11:44-48:

And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a

cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go." Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary,

and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and

told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said,

"What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in

Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation."

I once heard the statement that jealousy is the fear of losing what you think you have and envy is when

you want what someone else has. There is a mix of both towards the ministry of Jesus, but thankfully in

the passage of John 3, John the Baptist doesn’t freak out or put his foot down and refuse this. Rather,

John has the right mindset and says a few things to set the record straight:

1. “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” Meaning, God is sovereign

and no one gets promoted or demoted without God’s prior consent and will. You think this is

happening apart from His will? No, it wouldn’t happen unless God was bringing it to pass. Jesus said

something along these lines to Pilate when he made the remark in John 19:11, "You would have no

authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered

Me up to you has the greater sin." Simple interpretation of John’s word to his disciples: “guys, stop

freaking out. We follow God and God is doing this.” Learn to see the sovereign hand of God over the

affairs of life and it will help you much.

2. “You yourselves bear me witness, that I said,`I am not the Christ,' but, ‘I have been sent before Him.”

To put this simply and in bad grammar, “Guys, I ain’t Jesus.” Ministry is about pointing to Jesus, not

about finding a stage for ourselves. It’s not about our promotion, but His. If we take a back seat to

Him when people come to know Him, we should not pout; we should take delight. John the Baptist

recognized that his ministry was only to pave the path for the Messiah, not to pave the path for

himself. If a ministry or a church runs its course, and God is done with it, we ought not try to keep it

going perpetually if God says that He’s accomplished His plans (this happens sometimes when it’s

clear that a church is dead but the people refuse to let it go, even if they no longer care about

accomplishing God’s plans so long as the doors stay open). The coming of Jesus in His ministry in

the Gospels highlights the practical beginning of the end of John’s ministry, but this is not John’s

sorrow.

3. “This joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” Ah, the humility of recognizing that

our role is to support God’s purposes and not our own. The humility to step aside and to revel in the truth

that God has used you the way He pleased and that while your time on the stage may end, your level of

influence may recede, your fame may depart to the shadows, even your life may be “cut short,” it doesn’t

matter. It was all for the purpose of being used by God to do what He wanted for the season He wanted it.

Pride prompts people to never step aside, to always feel threatened when they see someone else on the

rise, to magnify their ministry because it’s their ministry and so forth, but humility is willing to take

whatever supportive role is necessary as God opens and closes doors of opportunity. C.S. Lewis wrote a

brief definition of humility in Mere Christianity that goes like this: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself,

but thinking of yourself less.” Do that and watch how peace washes over you where issues like frustration

or bitterness may have once reigned.

There is power and freedom in growing to not need to be the center of attention, to not need to be in

control, to not need to be popular or influential and rather to go with the flow of God’s guidance in our

moments, to not need to always have it your way. We should keep in mind, though, that John the Baptist’s

purpose was no less significant even when his ministry season began to die down. Every day God has

you here is no more or less significant one day from the next, though you may regard some days or

seasons as more important than others. It all matters in God’s sight.

My friend, find joy today in humility before God. Let your joy be fulfilled in God doing what He pleases and

you taking your cues no matter the direction. Be brave by not being insecure about the changes and

seasons of life. Find your confidence in God’s loving hand over you rather than your roles and the like. Be

blessed today.

Sam Stringer

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by

permission. All rights reserved.