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To walk humbly with your God ...


1 Peter 5:5[b] …Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Have you ever been asked to chair a committee or lead a discussion, and said “No” even if you secretly wanted to? Have you ever responded to a compliment by belittling the speaker’s words? Have you ever ‘pooh-poohed’ the suggestion that you did something well? Well, I have, to all of the above. After all weren't we taught in Sunday school that we should be humble and not think too highly of ourselves?

But how many of us have said “I can’t be the secretary because I can’t spell?” or “I don’t like your idea because it isn’t mine?” I wager that, like me, you come up with another excuse like “I’d love too but I’m much too busy!” or “I like your idea but it would never work!”

What if we have the meaning of being humble backwards? What if being humble actually means that we are to admit our shortcomings to others rather than trying to hide them? What if we are called to be proud of our strengths, in fact to use them at every opportunity to help others? Would this change how we relate to others? ” It would be more honest to say, as my grandmother did one day according to family legend, “Even if I am wrong, I’m still right!”

Admitting our shortcomings can be scary.  It makes us vulnerable.  It makes us face who we really are. But it can also lead to relationships that become authentic and life-giving. But do we have the courage to try ~





Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 31, 2013 at 3:06 PM

    Thanks for posting your reflection. I agree with you on your points. I would add that humility is seen by most people as having low self esteem, so that a person doesn't live up to his/her expectations. But humility is the recognition that ultimately I am no better or worse than anyone else. I have different talents and abilities, but they don't make me inferior or superior to others. Included in this is the fact that there is no task too menial for me to perform. This is where many folks are not humble in spirit because they feel there are jobs or tasks that are beneath them. These tasks are usually for peons or toadies or servants. To be humble is as you wrote, to recognize who you are in all of your totality as a human being and live each day as such.

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    1. Lynn EdwardAugust 31, 2013 at 3:23 PM

      Thank you for your comments. I agree with what you say ~ some might see this understanding of humility as denying the 'perfect' person who 'God' has made, where in fact it is honoring and being exactly that . . the person you really are.

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