After Gabriel told Mary that she will give birth to the Messiah and explains it to her, her response is:
v.38 "I am the Lord's servant," A servant is not a proud position. It is a lowly humble position. Of all the people of all of history, Mary could be proud. She is the mother of Jesus (God!). Nobody else in history can say that. Yet we never see her bragging.
When Mary visits her relative Elizabeth, this is Mary's words.
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
She praised God. She knows she is humble and God took notice. She knows who God is and how mighty He is. She knows that God does not like a proud attitude. She also knows that the only reason she was chosen to be the mother of Jesus was because of humbleness. It was not because she was amazing on her own will. The glory goes to God. She doesn't get proud even after she was chosen for the task. She was humble prior to the task and humble after the fact.
As I sat down dwelling on these verses, I wondered how people can be humble. How do people do it? I often find myself being proud and not humble. So I asked God "How do people stay humble?" And I love that he responded right away! (Always handy to hear God...because I don't always!)
His response was along the lines of "Stay focused on me. When you focus on yourself, you will get proud. But focus on me and others. Where your focus is, there is where you will be proud."
I don't believe it is wrong to be proud of ourselves when we accomplish a new task or have worked hard for something. However, our focus always needs to be on God. As soon as our eyes are off of God and on ourselves, pride will rise.
Lord help me to be humble. I can't do it without you.
