"Humility"

I seem to have a hard time with people who are self-promoting. I am much more comfortable with people that are self-effacing. They tend to be attentive, good listeners and gracious. Self-promoters always make me question their sincerity and the extent of their desire to manipulate.

Humility is a marvelous attribute. Egotism is ravenous for recognition. Humility does not need to prove superiority all the time.

1 Peter 5 says, “All of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another for ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble!’

Humility comes before wisdom. There is plenty that we do not know and that which we do know is limited by our perspective and biases. At some point we have to realize that we are not the General Managers of the Universe. The world does not revolve around us. I often think of Copernicus and his theory that the Sun did not revolve around the earth. The culture despised him for that. He was proven to be accurate.

Our love of truth must have a higher priority than our love for popularity. We all need people around us who will speak the truth – affirm, convict, inspire, discipline and direct us. In humility we should celebrate those courageous members of our circle of love and thank God for their candor.

Blessings!