humility

The most important characteristic of a Christian should be humility. The basic definition of humility is freedom from pride and arrogance. This is a great description of the word but there is more to understand. Long ago I studied this subject and I came up with another definition. Humility is when you perceive things exactly the way they are, you don't alter anything. A humble person is an honest person. No matter what the circumstances, they won't change the facts for any reason.

James 4:6 God continues to pour out more and more grace upon us. For it says God resists you when you are proud but continually pours out grace when you are humble.
When Jesus called Paul to be an apostle, Paul said he was not worthy of the calling but "I am what I am by the grace of God". God's amazing grace turns us into the person God needs us to be, but we must be humble enough to accept His grace. I know people who believe they have sinned so terribly that God would never save them. That is not humility. If Jesus died for all men, then all men can be saved. Paul said he was the chief sinner (number one), he was imprisoning men and women who confessed Jesus as Lord. No man could be a worse sinner than Paul and yet they don't think they are savable. John the Baptist was the greatest prophet of all and yet he said he was not worthy to tie Jesus' shoes. He was reluctant to baptize Jesus in water but Jesus pushed him to perform this great act of obedience.
Luke 7:28 And Jesus said: there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he that is least in the Kingdom of God is greater then he.
John was the greatest prophet because he introduced the Messiah, he was the first prophet to identify the Messiah. John revealed the Savior and men accepted Him. They were greater than the one who revealed Him. Being greater than John is nothing to boast about but it is something we must believe because Jesus said so. Many Christians think they are unworthy of the Lord, they remain this way because they want to be humble. But they are not humble, they are ignorant, they don't know their Savior.
2 Thessalonians 1:5 The evidence of God's judgement against your adversaries is just and as a result you will become worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which you suffer.
What all believers must come to understand is that God makes us worthy, not ourselves. We cannot earn our status with God, if we could we wouldn't need Him. If we will believe everything God says about us then we have humility. God calls you one of His sons. What do you call yourself? God said you are seated with Him in Heaven. Where do you sit? False humility will keep you out of the place Jesus died to put you. God sent His angels to wait on us, but I know a lot of people who put angels on the same level as God. When John was taken to Heaven an angel appeared to him and he fell down and began to worship him. The angel rebuked him and told him to stand on his feet as the angel was a fellow servant. Once you take your place in the Kingdom you must never forget how you got there. You must give God the glory, this is humility.