What Does Humility Look Like?
This year, my mind has been going in so many directions that, whenever I come up with an idea for a blog post, I go ahead and make a draft with a title so that I can write it when I have time to put my thoughts together. This morning, I did a Facebook live video and shared a few thoughts on pride and humility. Therefore, I had to smile when I opened my drafts folder and found this title that I saved back in September. It is not easy writing this way as it can be hard to remember the direction I wanted to go months ago or what exactly was on my mind, but I know that God’s timing is perfect, and He has a way of bringing the posts together anyway.
Some of the points I made in my video were that pride seems to be the one sin that everyone struggles with. I don’t think I am overstating that. I believe that pride is at the root of every relational conflict when either one or more parties are determined to be “right,” to have their way, or to save face. With this in mind, I think it is important to understand what humility is … and what it is not.
I love how C.S. Lewis put it:
Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.
A humble person does not constantly beat herself up as she focuses on everything she can’t do right or doesn’t think she is any good at. No, a truly humble person will “work heartily as to the Lord” (Colossians 3:23). The focus will be on Him, not one’s own inadequacies. This is something I have not mastered but I pray to improve in this area.
I rarely post anything on Facebook that people will argue with me about but occasionally I remind people that “self-esteem” is not Biblical. This typically brings a response. If you study Scripture, you will not find one place where we are told to love ourselves. In fact, in Romans 12:3, Paul gives us the opposite instruction:
I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
The answer is not low self-esteem either, as this can be rooted in as much pride as high self-esteem. The problem with self-esteem is the word “self.” You need to esteem others as better than yourself (Philippians 2:3). When you do this, you will become the servant Christ is calling you to be.
The best way to humble yourself is to focus completely on Christ and on others. When your goal is to please Him and serve others, you won’t have a need to brag and puff yourself up because you will know that you are only accomplishing what you are because of Him. He will increase but you will decrease … and you won’t mind one bit.
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