by Brady Warren

The older I grow, the more I perceive how little I know, and for the Christian, this is an ever deepening revelation because it points us to the truth that our God is the only Source of true wisdom and knowledge.  As we drink of the Word of God,  we become more cognizant of the little wisdom we possess and the depth of the riches of true wisdom God possesses, making it easier to admit there is much that we simply do not have answers for.    Recently, I’ve been reading a book titled:  Humble Roots:  How Humility Grounds and Nourishes Your Soul.  The author, Hannah Anderson, is a pastor’s wife living in Virginia.  The book continually points us towards the truth that our only source of true wisdom is our God and His word and that by acknowledging our stature as a creature formed by the great I AM,  we  display of our humility, enabling us to lay hold of the One who is all wisdom.  She goes on to say that scripture shows us that the proverbial fool isn’t unwise because he doesn’t have enough facts; he is unwise because of his refusal to submit to the source of wisdom Himself. 

Early in Humble Roots, she reminds us of Jesus’ invitation to:

“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (New International Version; Matthew 11:28-30)

  The author contends that one source of our unrest may be that we are submitted to unkind and unjust masters.  These kinds of masters aren’t gentle like Jesus.  We feel the pressure of leading picture perfect lives from both ourselves and the people around us yet we have a CONTINUOUS invitation through scripture to humble ourselves and return to the rest Jesus offers through our humble submission to him.  Then, we may freely work and leave the results to our Creator.  Author and Bible teacher Jen Wilkin concludes that Humble Roots is an invitation to put off the pride of accomplishment, self trust, and works righteousness and enter into humility that can grow us in the daily life of deep faith. 

The older I’ve become, the more I tend to think that my perspective is correct because after all, I’ve lived 44 years and I know a few things, right?  Anderson turns us back toward humility and says that it “predisposes us to believe we always have something to learn.  Because humility reminds us of our dependency and limitations, it also reminds us of the limits of our mind.  It reminds us that there is always a place where our vision could be corrected or our understanding  grow.”  I can always use correction and reading Humble Roots has shown me of several areas to pursue growth.  As we strive towards growth in faith and humility, let us continually seek after Jesus, who is our perfect source of godly humility.