“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11
I found a very interesting definition of humility on Wikipedia this morning under the subtitle of Humility-Christianity. It says, “Humility is defined as, "A quality by which a person considering his own defects has a humble opinion of himself and willingly submits himself to God and to others for God's sake." St. Bernard defines it as, "A virtue by which a man knowing himself as he truly is, abases himself. Jesus Christ is the ultimate definition of Humility." Abases himself…what does that mean? To me it means, making yourself the lowest of the low, putting yourself at the bottom of the totem pole.
Didn’t Jesus do that during his life on earth? I mean he hung out with tax collectors and sinners, and even though he was prophesized as coming into the world a king, he was never a king by the world’s secular standards…he was just a man, and he walked the earth like a man, ate like a man, and lived his life like any other man, except he did it with perfect virtue and humility, and then he preached that same humility to all his followers. So many of the disciples who followed him or even the Pharisees who persecuted him wanted to be accepted by him, wanted to be considered the greatest in knowledge, in holiness, in following the religious laws, but all Jesus wanted was to show them unconditional love and servanthood. His message continually repeats the same instructions, make yourself the least, serve others, give to the poor, love your enemies, be what everyone else is not, and you will be more than all of the greatest put together. Jesus never strived for popularity or keeping up with the Jones’. He strived only to lead us all to a better way, where we focus on service to our fellow human beings rather than trying to one-up each other. How could this be bad? I don’t think it is…if we can strive to be of service to our society, even if it’s just one of us at a time, I think our world could be such a more productive and joyful place. Step out of your box today. Help someone who you normally would simply pass by and see how God blesses you because of it.
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