One of the surest signs of a holy person is humility. The holy man recognizes God’s holiness, confesses his sinfulness, and esteems others better than himself– as the Scripture says it should be. He sees more evil in his own heart than in any other. Even when he is forced to deal with the faults of others he does so in a spirit of humility, because he realizes “by the grace of God I am what I am”(1 Cor. 15:10). Living in the awareness of his own shortcomings and attributing all his successes to the grace of God he feels no liberty to criticize others.
As J C Ryle said of the holy man:
He will understand something of Abraham’s feeling, when he says, “I am dust and ashes!”
And Jacob’s feeling, when he says, “I am unworthy of the least of all Your mercies!”
And Job’s feeling, when he says, “Behold! I am vile!”
And Paul’s feeling, when he says, “I am the chief of sinners!”
Holy John Bradford, that faithful martyr of Christ, would sometimes finish his letters with these words: “A most miserable sinner, John Bradford.”
The godly William Grimshaw’s last words, when he lay on his deathbed, were these: “Here goes an unprofitable servant!”
It is a shame that we tend to mention the faults and failures of others and ignore our own. We seem to think that putting others down lifts us up–actually the opposite is true. Putting others down pulls us down. What we say about the other person might be true, but the truth about us would be just as bad. Tearing others down won’t build you up. When we see ourselves as we should we will say, “ But God forbid that I should glory , save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”(Gal. 6:14).
