Humility has nothing to do with depreciating ourselves and our gifts in ways we know to be untrue. Even "humble" attitudes can be masks of pride. Humility is that freedom from our self which enables us to be in positions in which we have neither recognition nor importance, neither power nor visibility, and even experience deprivation, and yet have joy and delight. It is the freedom of knowing that we are not in the center of the universe, not even in the center of our own private universe.
Interpretation
Humility is recognizing our place in the universe without degrading our worth; it allows joy without the need for recognition.
David F. Wells emphasizes that true humility is not about diminishing ourselves or pretending to be less than we are. Instead, it is about finding joy and freedom in understanding that we are not the center of attention or importance, which allows us to appreciate life without the need for validation or recognition from others.
In practice
A speaker at a leadership retreat discussing the importance of humility in effective leadership.
What we see at the cross is the white-hot revelation of the character of God, of his love providing the price that holiness requires. The cross was his means of redeeming lost sinners and reconciling them to himself, but it was also a profound disclosure of his mercy. It is, in Paul’s words, an ‘inexpressible gift’ that leads us to wonder and worship, to praise and adore the God who has given himself to us in this way.
Once, in a spasm of sappiness, you asked Q-Jo if she thought your dreams would ever come true. 'You aren't talking about dreams,' she corrected you, 'you're referring to your pathetic bourgeoisie ambitions. Dreams don't come true. Dreams are true.
I let the argument rip healthily between the departments. This is a very good way to finding out the truth.
He who knows no hardships will know no hardihood. He who faces no calamity will need no courage. Mysterious though it is, the characteristics in human nature which we love best grow in a soil with a strong mixture of troubles.
In 'Gran Torino,' I play a guy who's racially offensive. But he learned. It shows that you're never too old to learn and embrace people that you don't understand to begin with. It seems like nobody else got that message, I guess.
Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.
A speculator is a man who observes the future, and acts before it occurs.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.