You’re nothing more than dirt that God in his infinite mercy and grace decided to breathe life into. Sounds harsh but I’m being serious. Now that’s a literal interpretation of Genesis but that aside where does the word humble come from?
The word humble happens to come from the same word that human does and that word is humus. Humus is the organic compound of dirt, or if your a soil activist, I’ll use the word soil as not to offend you. If you can see the relations, the word humble comes from the word dirt/dust. So why does any of this matter?
It’s humbling and it’s humiliating (another hum word) to know that we are nothing more than dust without God breathing into us. It illustrates our position to God and others.
A humble servant is someone who serves others from the posture of, “I’m nothing more than dirt unless God breathes life into me.” You really can’t lower yourself any further than dirt and if you choose to recognize your origins in the dust of this world it’s easy to understand God is in control and that you’re no better than anyone else.
Apply this to servanthood and you understand your place beneath God and alongside others.
