Jude 1:1 NKJV
“Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:”
So I was reading Jude the other day with my sister, and when we read verse 1 above; we stopped to ask ourselves just out of curiosity who was Jude?
Don’t judge oh, it was a geniue question we didn’t know.
Don’t even know why we stopped to ask ourselves who he was and actually googled who he was😅 but I’m glad we did; cos there was a lesson there for me to learn which is my main reason for this post.
When we searched the internet, we actually found out that JUDE was JESUS half brother;…… So why then didn’t he introduce himself as JESUS half brother in verse 1? I mean he said he was James’s brother so obviously relationships identification matters to him.
Now the 2 main points I took from this.
The Humility of Jude.
what identity matters most to you
Let’s explore the first point.
The humility of Jude.
A bondservant of Jesus Christ: Jude was a blood relative of Jesus, but he considered himself only as a bondservant of Jesus Christ. The fact that he wanted himself to be known this way instead of introducing himself as “Jude, the half-brother of Jesus” tells us something of the humility of Jude
He probably could have even used this as an advantage to make perhaps people listen to what he had to say; gain favour, respect and so on….. but out of humility, he does not assert his physical kinship with Jesus but describes himself as a humble servant of the Lord.
Let’s explore humility a bit.
Paul said in Philippians; to have this mindset which was also in JESUS CHRIST; in what was Paul saying tho?
Philippians 2:5-8 NKJV
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Paul was saying to follow after JESUS and HIS way of life in the likeness of humility. Humility is a basic and necessary aspect of the Christian life, and we have the perfect model of how to be humble in Jesus Christ. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).
So what’s Humility and why is it important in our Christian walk with God?
what is the Spiritual Meaning of Humility?
This Bible verse tells us in proverbs 22:4 the definition of humility distinctly and definitively:
Proverbs 22:4 NIV
“Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.”
Fear of the Lord isn’t referring to being scared of the Lord, but rather remembering that God alone is all-powerful. It’s acknowledging that only God deserves all glory and honor. Fear of the Lord reminds us that we should not hold ourselves in the same light or position that God righteously deserves.
Therefore, being humble means that we acknowledge that we are wholly dependent on God and that without Him, we wouldn’t be who we are, and we wouldn’t have what we have or lead the life we live. Practicing humility shows that we put ourselves in a position that points all glory and all things back to God. Acknowledging that GOD is the doer of all the good things in your life and you are nothing without him.
So the Bible tells us in James 4:10 NKJV to “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. And in James 4:6 NKJV that GOD gives even the grace to be humble. “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.””
Humility means that we know we are God’s children, and we should love ourselves as He loves us, but that we do not become self-seeking, greedy or arrogant in spirit or in material things. Humility can be practiced regardless of job title, wealth or economic status.
Humility in the Bible is presented as the practice of meekness, obedience to God, respect of self and others, submissiveness and modesty
“By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.” Proverbs 22:4. “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11. “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” 1 Peter 5:6
Apart from the humility of Jude the next lesson we can learn is the relative unimportance of being connected to Jesus by human relationships.
Without a doubt, Jude valued the fact that Jesus was his half-brother and that he grew up in the same household as Jesus. But even more valuable to him was his new relationship with Jesus. To Jude, the blood of the cross that saved him was more important than the family blood in his veins that related him to Jesus. Jude could say with Paul, “Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer”(2 Corinthians 5:16).
For him, recognising and acknowledging that JESUS is his LORD and he is a bondservant of JESUS was more important than saying I am JESUS half brother.
“His authority to address his readers does not rest on his kinship to Jesus, which he omits to mention, but on his commission to serve Jesus Christ.” (Biblical Scholar and Theologian Richard Bauckham
Our identity, who we are, our entire being should be wholly and firmly rooted in JESUS CHRIST and it’s an identity we should always boldly proclaim.
Let’s make it practical; if you meet someone for the first time how would you introduce yourself to them?
Or you know that question, tell me about yourself in 5 mins; would you ever mention ‘I am a Christian’? Is it an identity you deem important to you and worth mentioning?
Once at work, we had a new section manager and a meeting was set up for my team to introduce ourselves to him and him to us.
When it got to his turn; he said firstly I will start by saying that I am a Christian cos that’s the most important identity I identify with and defines who I am, my beliefs, values…. And then he went to introduce other aspect of himself.
To Jude, no other identity mattered to him apart from the new identity in JESUS CHRIST which he boldly declared, that he was a bond servant of JESUS CHRIST.
What’s the most important identify you identify with?
If we can say oh, I am from this country, I am this and that and leave out what I consider is the essence of our whole being which is that I am a Christian, then I don’t think thats a good thing.
Introductions are the initial lens through which people view us and have a long-lasting effect that may take a while to change.
Look at the apostles; they had claimed their identity in the introduction of their letters:
Romans 1:1 NKJV
“Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God”
James 1:1 NKJV
“James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.”
I Peter 1:1 NKJV
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,”
Philemon 1:1 NKJV
“Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer,”
The original word for “bondservant” is the Greek word “Doulos” which means the disregard of one's own interests to be devoted to another and throughout the New Testament, the apostles identified themselves as this, not only identified themselves as this but even more importantly lived like this, people absolutely, entirely devoted to Jesus.
Should we be any different?
Believers today should still consider themselves bondservants or slaves of Christ (1 Corinthians 7:22; Ephesians 6:6; 2 Timothy 2:24). He is our Lord, and our allegiance is due to Him alone. As bondservants, we renounce other masters (Matthew 6:24) and give ourselves totally to Him (Matthew 16:24).
Being a bondservant of Christ is not drudgery. His “burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Also, we have this promise: “Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life” (Romans 6:22).
Lastly JESUS tell us HIMSELF in Luke 9:26 NKJV that
“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.”
Mark 8:38 TPT
“If you are ashamed of me and my words while living among sinful and faithless people, then I, the Son of Man, will also be ashamed of you when I make my appearance with my holy messengers in the glorious splendor of my Father!””
Don’t be quite about your identity in CHRIST, be bold always to proclaim who you are in JESUS and what HE has done for you no matter what, where; so help us GOD, Amen Amen🙏
I hope and pray that you were and remain blessed by this post put together by THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, and I pray God gives us grace to live a humble life acknowledging HIM always as LORD over our lives and living a life of total submission and surrender to HIS will. I pray we have boldness to always and boldly proclaim JESUS as our LORD and Savior, for in JESUS, we move and have our very being; Amen Amen🙏
Ps. This is a post I put together with the help of the SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD and also experts are gotten from other post below. You can read further and be blessed as I was🙏
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