<p>14:11<i> For everyone that exalts himself shall be humbled, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted</i>- See on Acts 5:31; 2 Cor. 11:7. So how, then, can we &lsquo;humble ourselves&rsquo;? As noted on :9 and :10, we are to live now as if we are in the Lord's judgment presence, and all we seek is the lowest place in His Kingdom. When Israel was a child... she was humble, as we should be after our spiritual rebirth at baptism. It is evidently not something natural; for it is a fruit of the spirit we must develop. It isn&rsquo;t a natural timidity or nervousness or shyness. By realising our own sinfulness, we will realise our condemnation, and thereby be &lsquo;brought down&rsquo;. For we are condemned for our behaviour, but saved out of that condemnation. The exact, vast debt is reckoned up- before we are forgiven (Mt. 18). We have been invited through the Gospel to sit down in the Kingdom. Humbling ourselves is therefore sitting down in the <i>lowest</i> place- not just a low place. Strictly, the Greek means &lsquo;the farthest&rsquo; away from the Lord Jesus, who sits at the head of the table. Like Paul we must somehow get that deep and genuine apprehension that we are &ldquo;chief of sinners&rdquo;- and sit in the <i>lowest, farthest</i> place. This would mean that we &lsquo;each esteemed our brother better than ourselves to be&rsquo;, not in any na&iuml;ve, meaningless way; not seeing strengths where they simply don&rsquo;t exist; but seeing him or her that way simply in comparison to our own lowness. Seeing others as higher than ourselves is a sure remedy for every case of ecclesial friction and division. So often pride develops from a worry about what others will think of us, a desire to be seen as acceptable and not unusual. It leads to a hyper-sensitivity regarding what others may be implying about us. The humbled mind will not see things in these terms. <i>If only we would each, personally, learn this lesson, or at least grasp the truth and beauty and power of it</i>. The publican was so worried about his own position before God that he paid no attention, so we sense, to the hypocritical brother next to him: &ldquo;The publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner&hellip; this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for &hellip; he that humbles himself shall be exalted&rdquo; (Luke 18:13-14). That sin-conscious man is an essay in self-humbling. This is why David sometimes parallels &ldquo;the meek&rdquo; and the repentant sinner (e.g. Ps. 25:8,9). See on Mt. 18:4.</p>