Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.
-C. S. Lewis
I love this quote. It puts it's finger on something I've long held in contempt (oh no, you say, here it's comin' again!!): False Humility. I run up against it so much - in people I talk with, in sermons, and even, astonishingly, in a popular book on humility! The author lamented that he could never know if he was humble because if he knew it - he would be proud of it, and then he wouldn't be humble anymore!
Look... If Moses says he's the humblest man alive in Numbers 12:3, either he's a proud liar, which doesn't seem very "Moses," if you know what I mean, or Humility doesn't mean what we think it means.
(You just said Moses in that deep "Moses... Moses..." voice from the movie The Ten Commandments... well, at least, I did... It used to play every time we'd sing "Pharaoh, Pharaoh" in AWANA.)
I once heard it said that humility is knowing who you are.
As a body, we are made in God's image. We are a chosen people, holy and dearly loved. We have the power of Christ. We are his workmanship.
Individually, do you know who you are? Do you shy away from mention of your gifts, or do you know what they are and feel their weight? The sword in your hand is heavy. Your gifts are powerful, and false humility would keep you from seeing them gleam, feeling the love of the master who gave them to you, using them to make manifest his honor, beauty, and justice in this world.
Humility is knowing who you are not, as well. You are not perfect. You are not faultless. You are not everything to everybody.
Humility is knowing it's not about you, and not caring.
Look... If Moses says he's the humblest man alive in Numbers 12:3, either he's a proud liar, which doesn't seem very "Moses," if you know what I mean, or Humility doesn't mean what we think it means.
(You just said Moses in that deep "Moses... Moses..." voice from the movie The Ten Commandments... well, at least, I did... It used to play every time we'd sing "Pharaoh, Pharaoh" in AWANA.)
I once heard it said that humility is knowing who you are.
As a body, we are made in God's image. We are a chosen people, holy and dearly loved. We have the power of Christ. We are his workmanship.
Individually, do you know who you are? Do you shy away from mention of your gifts, or do you know what they are and feel their weight? The sword in your hand is heavy. Your gifts are powerful, and false humility would keep you from seeing them gleam, feeling the love of the master who gave them to you, using them to make manifest his honor, beauty, and justice in this world.
Humility is knowing who you are not, as well. You are not perfect. You are not faultless. You are not everything to everybody.
Humility is knowing it's not about you, and not caring.