Categories: uncategorized
Date: 21 February 2008 15:07:23
Follows on from the post below about Thomas a Kempis, who talks lots about humility. He sees it as an absolutely necessity for all other virtues, and it's made me think.
Humility is neglected today. It's a long time since I heard a preacher really talk about it. We think that positive self-image is all important, and our preaching actually focuses more on encouraging this than on encouraging humility. We're told lots about how Jesus died for us, how we are the beloved of God, chosen by him. Wonderful - it's all true. We can have the esteem of knowing this to be true. But because we've seen so many people damaged by a lack of self-esteem, or who never use their gifts because they think they're worth nothing, we don't talk about humility.
This is a real problem. To me, the core of the Christian life is the quote: ‘He who seeks his life will lose it, but he who loses his life will find it.' Humility is considering others above ourselves, in thought, word and deed. It's the basis for love. Humility means we take our eyes off ourselves. We lose our life and find it by loving God and others and all the good that comes from that.
Humility enables us to deal with the slings and arrows thrown at us with grace. It's understanding that we're not always in the right, and we do things to hurt others too. We take the log out of our own eye before taking the speck out of our brother's. So humility is the starting place for forgiveness.
So if it's the starting place for love and forgiveness, then it's the key. It's the key to a life free of bitterness; a life of love and service, and a life - ultimately - of joy, because we're free of the need to constantly meet our own needs, and we trust that God will look after us.
Lofty ideals. Whenever I think about the spiritual life, I feel like I'm at the foot of a mountain - but I do want to climb.