…humble before God.

Saul went looking for donkeys for his dad.  On the journey he encountered Samuel (God’s prophet), was treated like royalty, was anointed as king of Israel, and then empowered with God’s Holy Spirit.  Not a bad day!
When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, they saw a group of prophets coming toward them. Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy. When those who knew Saul heard about it, they exclaimed, "What? Is even Saul a prophet? How did the son of Kish become a prophet?" And one of those standing there said, "Can anyone become a prophet, no matter who his father is?" So that is the origin of the saying "Is even Saul a prophet?" (1 Samuel 10:10-12 NLT)
Before he gets too excited about his newly received power, Saul gets knocked down a notch or two.  “Really? Saul’s a prophet?  Wow, I guess God is desperate.”  That’s the tone in his friends’ words.  With friends like that…
Saul gets recruited, empowered, and knocked down all in the same day.  The combination of these actions keep him humble before God. Humility is not just about lowering oneself.  It’s about lifting up, too. 
When we are humble, we are not proud.  Pride is the one extreme.  Pride tells us that we are more than we actually are.  Pride leads us to believe that it is all about us.  Pride comes before a fall.
When we are humble, we do not beat ourselves up.  When we beat ourselves up, we are beating up a human being made in the very image of God.  Godly guilt will lead us to turn around in repentance, changing our behavior.  Ungodly guilt will just beat us up and leave us to die on the side of the road.
Humility is being honest and accurate with ourselves about our part of God’s Plan.  It is not seeing ourselves as more than our part.  It is not seeing ourselves as less that our part.  Humility is the “happy middle.”  It is the place of peace with God, regardless of the response of the people around us.
"Where have you been?" Saul's uncle asked him and his servant. "We were looking for the donkeys," Saul replied, "but we couldn't find them. So we went to Samuel to ask him where they were." "Oh? And what did he say?" his uncle asked. "He told us that the donkeys had already been found," Saul replied. But Saul didn't tell his uncle what Samuel said about the kingdom. (1 Samuel 10:14-16 NLT)
How about you?  Do you tend to puff yourself up to the point of dangerous pride?  Do you knock yourself down to the point that you are insulting the God who designed you, created you, and still holds you together?  Are you humble before God?