JB
April 13th 2008, 06:19 PM
I've always thought humility to be one of the soft, passive virtues. Like being meek, or patient. I always looked to those sweet, quiet girls in church who seemed to never have anything bad to say. They always looked decent, hair neat and calm, nothing outrageous or too loud in their dress. They had a rather large, well worn Bible, and always an uncontroversial, soft spoken answer in Sunday School. Often they were married and had a few kids, who never acted up.
Bleh! Boring! Who wants to be like that? I am NOT quiet, soft spoken, nice, frail, skinny, shy, or well put together. My few days Sundays that I'd actually get out of bed early enough to look put together, I usually look dramatic, striking, with a neckline that borders on too low cut (not that I mean to...it just ends up that way). If I'm soft spoken it's because I haven't had my coffee yet. If I'm meek it's because I don't want my strong opinions to get noticed. If I have nothing negative to say, it's because my throat hurts. :wink:
But the past few days I've been thinking about humility. No, really. I have.
Humility is a bloody, jagged, painful thing. It is not being a doormat. It is having something to brag about, that others would actually envy. It's knowing the answer to a dumb question. It's being able to jump higher, run faster, be more accurate. It's being further along on a journey.
It's being above, better, and knowing it. And keeping your big mouth shut.
Humility sucks. It's not comfortable. It's not something that should make you feel good. If it makes you feel good, you are probably not being humble. There is such a thing as being arrogant in your show of humility. Hah! I didn't see that one coming, either...but it's there. Humility will cut you to pieces on the inside. And guess what? You will heal stronger. You will die to your self-love. You won't need that praise that you used to crave. You won't hate yourself as often. The scars of humility will produce peace.
No one needs to learn this more than I do. And I hate it, but there it is. I can't ignore it...it's kicking me in the face. Go figure...God wouldn't let me sit in the exact same spot for years and years and beg him to come closer to me. He's making me get off my butt and do some digging. It doesn't feel good to get dirt under my nails...but my garden lies fallow. We'll see what I can plant, and what the harvest will yield.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Bleh! Boring! Who wants to be like that? I am NOT quiet, soft spoken, nice, frail, skinny, shy, or well put together. My few days Sundays that I'd actually get out of bed early enough to look put together, I usually look dramatic, striking, with a neckline that borders on too low cut (not that I mean to...it just ends up that way). If I'm soft spoken it's because I haven't had my coffee yet. If I'm meek it's because I don't want my strong opinions to get noticed. If I have nothing negative to say, it's because my throat hurts. :wink:
But the past few days I've been thinking about humility. No, really. I have.
Humility is a bloody, jagged, painful thing. It is not being a doormat. It is having something to brag about, that others would actually envy. It's knowing the answer to a dumb question. It's being able to jump higher, run faster, be more accurate. It's being further along on a journey.
It's being above, better, and knowing it. And keeping your big mouth shut.
Humility sucks. It's not comfortable. It's not something that should make you feel good. If it makes you feel good, you are probably not being humble. There is such a thing as being arrogant in your show of humility. Hah! I didn't see that one coming, either...but it's there. Humility will cut you to pieces on the inside. And guess what? You will heal stronger. You will die to your self-love. You won't need that praise that you used to crave. You won't hate yourself as often. The scars of humility will produce peace.
No one needs to learn this more than I do. And I hate it, but there it is. I can't ignore it...it's kicking me in the face. Go figure...God wouldn't let me sit in the exact same spot for years and years and beg him to come closer to me. He's making me get off my butt and do some digging. It doesn't feel good to get dirt under my nails...but my garden lies fallow. We'll see what I can plant, and what the harvest will yield.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.