Have you ever tried really hard to be humble? Or found yourself trying to figure out how to act humble or appear humble? Not in a superficial pretending-to-be-humble kind of way. But in an “I genuinely want to be humble, how can I do it?” kind of way. I know I have.
It’s a powerful virtue and a worthy goal – to be humble, to have humility. The trap I often fall into, though, is that I go about it by focusing on me being humble, when humility in the first place is all about not focusing on me.
“Humility is ‘thy will be done.’ Humility is focused on God, not self. Humility is not an exaggeratedly low opinion of yourself. Humility is self-forgetfulness. A humble man never tells you how bad he is. He’s too busy thinking about you to talk about himself. That’s why humility is such a joy and so close to the beatific vision, where we will be so fascinated with God that we forget ourselves completely.” – Peter Kreeft, How Does the Weakness of the Cross Make Us Strong? [essay]
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True humility is something that has often been a struggle for me. Humility and humbleness seem so evident in some others, so genuine, and often so effortless. Even while being painfully aware of my many shortcomings and acutely sensitive to my dependence upon and need for God’s grace, I have trouble finding the healthy balance between fully relying on God, being struck with a need and desire for His grace, and feeling that there’s too much pride, sinfulness, and self-centeredness in me for humility to take root and grow.
This prayer has helped me put things into perspective: You, Lord, are ALL I have, and You give me ALL I need. My future is in Your hands. Lord, I pray for Your will. When I admit everything in my life comes from God and He knows best how things should go, then I’m a bit less likely to get caught up in my own issues in favor of His will.
The times when I’ve found myself so focused on another have been when I see someone I love and care about suffering. In that case, I am willing to do anything and everything necessary in terms of sacrifice in mind, body, and/or spirit for the person who is suffering and for the salvation of souls in time and in eternity.
Wow, this is an *excellent* point. Humility is so often misunderstood as having low self esteem or sitting around thinking about how bad you are. Thank you for posting this!
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