How Can We Walk Humbly with Our God?

The Bee Gee’s were right; you can tell a good deal about a person by how they use their walk. You might be a ladies’ man, with no time to talk. Or perhaps you are as prideful as a peacock. If a person is looking down at the ground, shoulders slumped, shuffling along — you probably assume they are walking in shame. Likewise, a person with a steady stride, eyes forward, and a confident posture is likely someone who could lead a board meeting.

Scripture also talks about our walk. But it means something different than how you put one foot in front of the other. Micah 6:8 tells us that our walk should be a humble one. That verse gives us one of the clearest summaries of what God requires from His people. I love the simplicity.

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).

Walking humbly is difficult in a world that rewards self-promotion, platform building, and personal achievement. Everything around us is encouraging us to “Make yourself bigger, louder, more visible.” And yet Scripture calls us to a humble walk. What does that even look like? Is it about self-deprecation? Is it just a vague spiritual posture?

Let’s look closer at what it means to walk humbly with our God and why it may be the key that sustains a life of justice and mercy.

What Is the Context of Micah 6:8?

Micah is a pretty scathing book. He was sent to give a wake-up call to a complacent and corrupt people. The book opens with judgment of the religious and cultural leaders of Micah’s day. And it keeps that tone at a pretty steady clip throughout the book. But it’s actually good news to the poor and downcast.

God’s people had abandoned justice, exploited the vulnerable, and covered it all with a thin layer of religious ritual. Leaders were corrupt. The wealthy crushed the poor. And yet, they still went through the motions of worship, assuming God was pleased. Does that sound familiar?

Micah 6 is God making His case against Israel. It’s like a covenant lawsuit. Think of it like divorce proceedings. God reminds them of His faithfulness: “I brought you out of Egypt… I redeemed you from slavery.” And then He asks a piercing question: “What have I done to you, that you should treat me this way?”

The people respond as you’d expect a disinterested lover to respond. “What do you want?” Basically, it’s them saying, “please just tell me what I have to do in order to get you to shut up. And I’ll do it.” But the whole time their hearts are far from God. They don’t actually want reconciliation.

Micah responds with startling simplicity. God doesn’t want their dumb religious performances. He wants a transformed life. And the heart of it is a humble walk with God.

Picture this like a wife wanting to spend time with her husband, but he buys her jewelry instead. That might seem sweet, but after a while the jewelry is seen for what it is — “hush money.” That’s what the people are doing with God. And He doesn’t want any more of their silly little rituals. He is after relationship. He wants to walk with them.

What Does It Mean to “Walk” with God?

“Walk” is not just a poetic term here. In Hebrew thought, walking is a metaphor for how you live your entire life. It’s about your habits, your posture, your movement through the world. To walk with God means to be in daily relationship with Him. It’s not just believing in Him from a comfortable distance but orienting your whole life around His presence.

Walking with someone implies movement, intentionality, and closeness. It means that you’re going in the same direction. And it means you’re going at the same pace. That actually takes effort. Have you ever tried to match the step of another person? You have to intentionally slow down or pick up the pace to stay with them. It’s steady, faithful steps in the same direction.

All of this implies that you aren’t walking ahead of God, trying to run the show. Nor are you staying behind Him, dragging your feet. You are walking with Him. Keeping in step with the Spirit.

God walks a certain way. To follow Him means we have to step as He does. Such a walk requires humility.   

What Does God Mean by Humility?

Let’s go back to that dude who is walking all slouched over, shuffling feet, not making eye contact. It looks like he’s having a pity part. Doesn’t think much of himself. That’s a humble guy, right?

Not likely.

The truly humble won’t have pity parties for themselves. Humility isn’t self-hatred or even passivity. As it’s been said by many preachers before, humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. (And if your preacher says that and gives you the impression that he’s the originator of that quote — he’s probably not that humble).

In Philippians 2, Paul points to Jesus as the ultimate picture of humility. Yes, the same King of kings who crafted a whip and cleared out a temple is the same one of whom Paul said:

“Though he was in the form of God… he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).

What that means is that Jesus, the Son of God, didn’t grasp for status or cling to His rights. He stooped low. He served. And He did it all in complete dependence upon the father. Jesus wasn’t driven by ego — He was motivated by love.

Jesus walked humbly with God. What does that look like for us?

3 Marks of a Humble Walk with God

So what does it look like, practically, to walk humbly with our God? Let’s explore three habits that mark a truly humble walk.

1. Listening Instead of Leading

I think here of Michael Scott on The Office. At a particular seminar, put together just for him, he was asked to sign something that acknowledged he’d sat through it and learned something. He couldn’t do it. He said he didn’t learn anything, but he’d be willing to sign a paper that says he taught something. That’s pride. It always has to lead.

You might be a leader when it comes to other people in your life. But when it comes to your relationship with God, you aren’t the one directing the steps. You’re to follow Him. In Scripture, walking with God always involves listening to His voice — through His Word, His Spirit, and His people. Psalm 25:9 says, “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way.”

A good question to ask is: Am I listening for God’s direction, or am I just asking Him to bless my plans? Humility refuses to run ahead of God, even if the path looks obvious.

2. Trusting Instead of Controlling

You aren’t in control anyways. You might think you are. But walking humbly means giving up that delusion. It’s more like walking alongside of someone and saying, “Where are we going?” That’s how little kids can be with their parents. They don’t have a clue where they are going, they just walk with their parent.

As we “mature,” we want to know what’s next. We try to manage outcomes, to make life predictable. But God often has us relate to Him as if we’re children still; we just hold His hand and go where He leads. Think of Abraham, told to leave his homeland and go “to the land I will show you.” Or Mary, told she would give birth to the Messiah with no clear explanation of how her life would unfold.

To walk humbly means we don’t demand to understand before we obey.

3. Repenting Instead of Pretending

Have you ever had a shoe that kept getting untied as you walked? Doesn’t matter if you triple knot that thing, it’s somehow going to wiggle itself free. Sin can be like that shoe. And if left unattended it’ll trip you up. It’s hard to walk alongside of someone if you keep tripping on your laces.

Micah’s audience wanted to pretend like their shoes weren’t coming untied. They did the ol’ just tuck it into your shoe routine. They were offering sacrifices, going through the motions. But their hearts were proud, self-righteous, and closed to correction. If you aren’t living a life of authentic repentance, you’re going to keep falling flat on your face and it’s going to hinder your walk.

If you’re humble, you aren’t interested in putting on a show. Humility doesn’t perform, it’s authentic. And as a sinner saved by grace, that’s going to mean the truly humble will spend plenty of time in repentance.

We aren’t walking humbly to earn God’s favor. We walk humbly because we already have it. Jesus walked humbly with the Father. He’s the only One who has ever actually fulfilled Micah 6:8. And now His record is ours. His humility is what gives us life. And it’s what allows us to now follow in His footsteps in obeying Micah 6:8.

You can walk humbly with God because of what Jesus has accomplished.

Micah 6:8 isn’t a checklist, it’s a posture. It’s a relationship with God that is soaked in the blood of Jesus.

Photo credit: Pexels/Ankit Sihag