what is Humility?
its common to think of humility as weakness. in a way, it is...kind of. when a team loses by lots of points, they are humiliated. when a man comes from a poor family, we say he has humble beginnings. at the same time, we might admire a leader for her humility, a rare character strength. In the christian faith, we use the word humility to describe the opposite of pride.
pride is the filling of the self with the self. humility is the emptying of the self of the self. pride says, "i am enough". humility says, "i am not enough". without christ, there must be pride, because i have to be enough. with christ, I don't need to be enough because i am alive in him.
let's phrase it another way: there is a space within us that always wants to be full. when we are prideful, we fill that space with ourselves. we might even describe a prideful person as being "full of themselves". humility, however, is the emptying of that same space. as we empty that space, christ fills it. the more we empty ourselves of pride and humble ourselves, the more 'space' there is for jesus.
in our healthy relationships, humility and pride decide how we speak, react, listen and care. pride won't allow us to speak thoughtfully, listen carefully or care empathetically. as we are humble and christ fills us, we are then able to speak with his words, listen with his ears and care with his heart. humility is less about what we do and more about who we are. pride isn't something we do, it's the posture from which we do everything. in the same way, humility is a posture from which we engage the world. humble people enjoy healthy relationships.
pride is the filling of the self with the self. humility is the emptying of the self of the self. pride says, "i am enough". humility says, "i am not enough". without christ, there must be pride, because i have to be enough. with christ, I don't need to be enough because i am alive in him.
let's phrase it another way: there is a space within us that always wants to be full. when we are prideful, we fill that space with ourselves. we might even describe a prideful person as being "full of themselves". humility, however, is the emptying of that same space. as we empty that space, christ fills it. the more we empty ourselves of pride and humble ourselves, the more 'space' there is for jesus.
in our healthy relationships, humility and pride decide how we speak, react, listen and care. pride won't allow us to speak thoughtfully, listen carefully or care empathetically. as we are humble and christ fills us, we are then able to speak with his words, listen with his ears and care with his heart. humility is less about what we do and more about who we are. pride isn't something we do, it's the posture from which we do everything. in the same way, humility is a posture from which we engage the world. humble people enjoy healthy relationships.
