“A man can counterfeit love, he can counterfeit faith, he can counterfeit hope and all the other graces, but it is very difficult to counterfeit humility” said D. L. Moody. Genuine humility has almost nothing to do with our external appearances; it is the condition of our heart that has the right estimation of self as God sees us. A story is told of a kindergarten teacher who came to a little girl who was working diligently on her drawing, the teacher asked “What are you drawing?”, the girl replied “I am drawing God”, the teacher paused and said “But no one knows what God looks like.” Without missing a beat the girl replied “They will in a minute.”
I am not sure whether you will call the girl ignorant, innocent or conceited but in a world where success is often glorified and admired, many of us could be wondering or confused about the truth and relevance of humility in our daily life. C S Lewis once said “There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; it is pride” Sometimes we may be blind to our own blindness, we may be the last ones to realize how our words, actions and attitudes could come across as prideful or conceited to others. Being humble is not having an abject or low view of self; it is having a healthy view of self without becoming self-confident or independent of God’s grace. All of us need a healthy view of our self, but the problem is with our sinful nature and the worldly pressure to promote ourselves, we often go too far feeding our ego that we don’t realize when we have developed an inflated view of our self.
All of us need a healthy view of our self, but the problem is with our sinful nature and the worldly pressure to promote ourselves, we often go too far feeding our ego that we don’t realize when we have developed an inflated view of our self.
Here are some helpful explanations of humility that clarify what true humility is: “Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all” wrote William Temple. C S Lewis once said “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” Saint Augustine wrote “Should you ask me what is the first thing in religion, my reply is that the first, the second, and the third thing is humility….it is the foundation of all virtues, therefore in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.”
Being humble is not having an abject or low view of self; it is having a healthy view of self without becoming self-confident or independent of God’s grace.
Recently I came across a small book called “Humility – True Greatness” by C. J. Mahaney in which the author suggested a few helpful practices: Each day you should plan these helpful practices (spiritual disciplines) that can help you defeat your greatest enemy – pride. Reflect on the wonder of the cross: Dr Martyn Lloyd- Jones wrote “There is one thing I know of that crushes me to the ground and humiliates me to the dust, and that is to look at the Son of God, and especially contemplate the cross.” Begin your day by acknowledging your dependence upon God and your need for God: Sin – including especially the sin of pride – is active, not passive. Sin doesn’t wake up tired, because it hasn’t been sleeping. When you wake up in the morning, sin is right there fully awake, ready to attack. So rather than be attacked by sin in the morning… we should set the right tone for our day by mentally affirming our dependence upon God and our need for Him.
Begin your day expressing gratitude to God: Michael Ramsey says “Thankfulness is a soil in which pride does not easily grow”. Seize your commute time to memorize or meditate on scripture: For many of us our commute is wasted every day, you can either get into mental ruts during this time, or seize your time as a means of grace by meditating the scripture that can transform your thinking. Cast your cares upon Him (I Pet 5:6-7): Often pride is at the root of all our worries and anxieties; we are trying to be self-sufficient, independent of God. Finally, keep a prayerful attitude through the day and deliberately cast your cares upon Him, this will help you to trust in God and also starve your pride and self-sufficiency. Richard Foster once said “Nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh like service, and nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in hiddenness. The flesh whines against service but it screams against hidden service. It strains and pulls for honor and recognition.”
John Selden once said “Humility is a virtue all preach, none practice; and yet everybody is content to hear”. It is a sad reality, but the truth of the matter is that many Christians, though we claim to be followers of Christ have failed to imitate Christ in his humility. Phil 2:5-6 says “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus; who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God, something to be grasped…” I don’t think we will ever fully grasp it; however, that does not excuse us from our responsibility to imitate Christ in humility. John Stott once wrote “In every step of our Christian growth and maturity, and throughout every aspect of our Christian obedience and service, our greatest foe is pride and our greatest ally is humility.” If humility is our greatest ally, let’s be more deliberate in battling against the subtle pride in our heart and seek humility. Remember the words of Saint Augustine “it was pride that changed angels into demons; it is humility that makes men into angels.”
“Humility is a virtue all preach, none practice; and yet everybody is content to hear”. It is a sad reality, but the truth of the matter is that many Christians, though we claim to be followers of Christ have failed to imitate Christ in his humility.
– – Author: Rev. Francis Burgula – –
