“Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Mt 23:10-12
Humility is a misunderstood virtue.
I certainly misunderstood it for many years. I always felt uncomfortable when I read Jesus’ calls to humility. I thought meant being taken advantage of and used. I thought of a humble person as someone who was weak, who never really believed in themselves because they always believed someone else was better than them.
This view of humility is totally wrong. Humility is not about how we think about ourselves at all. A person who is focused on how bad they are lacks humility just as much as a person who focuses on how great they are. In both cases, the individual has placed themselves at the center of their world and their concerns.
C.S. Lewis offers a helpful reflection on this. He wrote that true humility is not about “thinking less of yourself” but instead “thinking of yourself less.” We are not called to a posture of self-depreciation but instead to a posture of selfless love.
God has made you good and has blessed you with some incredible gifts. Let’s acknowledge and thank God for the amazing things he has worked in us and then look for ways that we might be called to live out those things in love towards others.
May we live lives that exalt God and love others with all the amazing things that God has given us – a life of true humility.
Question for Today:
- What is one gift God has given you that you can use to serve others today?
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