“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” Proverbs 11:2

The book of the proverbs which is full of wisdom teaches us that there is a connection between wisdom and humility. Therefore, to understand how humility affects wisdom, it seems fair to zoom in on some experiences of the person the Bible considers as the most humble person on earth in his time: Moses (Numbers 12:3).

Given Moses’ temperament (Exodus 2:12), I have never considered his humility seriously until I started exploring his experiences. In the book of Exodus, we see Moses leading the people of God with determination until his father-in-law paid him a visit; Jethro then criticized Moses’s leadership style which was producing good results because he was judging disputes among people based on the law and prescription of God. Even though Jethro seemed okay with Moses’s results, he was very uncomfortable with his style because he believed it was not efficient and his reaction was direct: ‘’What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.’’ (Exodus 18:17-18).

What would your reaction have been to Jethro if you had been Moses? I am sure many of us would have said things like: “Jethro, you are a gentile; you have just recognized Jehovah as God; you know nothing about our God; you have never led the size of people I am leading; you have never made the type of miracles I made.

Despite all his accomplishments, leadership experience and anointing, Moses did not get angry at Jethro’s feedback. On the contrary, he showed unconventional signs of humility and understood that unless he amended his style, he would exhaust himself in unproductive efforts and could eventually kill himself. He then promptly and enthusiastically implemented Jethro’s recommendations by choosing capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. They served as judges for the people at all times, deciding by themselves on simple cases and bringing the difficult ones to Moses (Exodus 18:25-26). Israel replicated such a model at different times of its story. That obviously effective model outlived Moses and has become a template the judicial structure in many nations of our modern world are currently using, thanks to Moses.

May God give us the humility to never look down on a gentile and never look down on someone less successful than us.