Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.

“Humility is nothing else but a right judgment of ourselves” William Law

‘’I’m one of God’s ‘are nots’ “, she said to me.

I only met her the once, but I’ll never forget her. She made quite an impression.

Her name was Miss Rose. She was probably in her 80’s, even possibly 90’s. I was a young assistant pastor in my very early 20’s, and I’d been asked to visit her in a Care home in Southport. I was told she’d had a very influential ministry, teaching the Bible to large groups of women. But her own humble estimation of herself was that she was one of “God’s are nots,” because, she explained, the Bible teaches that God chooses “the things that are not – to nullify the things that are…”

I knew it wasn’t mock modesty. She really believed it was true. It was easy to see why the Lord was able to use her so greatly.

“Humility is royalty without a crown.” Spencer W. Kimball