I have been informed by several people during my adult life that I can be “a lot to deal with.” (Sources Available Upon Request). It would appear that I tend to be “a know-it-all,” “a stickler for details,” “a picker of nits,”” a general pain in the…,’ well, you get the idea. And I must admit that I do tend to have a rather full sense of my own abilities, in certain areas. If you ask me about plumbing or auto mechanics, I will gladly step aside, but in probably more areas than are justified, I do tend to hold to my own opinion more than I should. At a recent meeting, I pointed out that I do not like to be told what to think, and while I thought this would act as a news flash to the group in attendance, they all laughed, as apparently, this seems to be common knowledge.
The Struggle to Walk Humbly With God
And, moving forward, I am starting to realize that my pride is keeping me from God, particularly as I have selected as my life verse Micah 6:8 “He told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to seek justice, love mercy, and TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD?” And though I struggle with all three, I am starting to learn how far away I am from number 3. I recently had an issue where my wife wondered if I had asked different church groups to pray for me. I told her “no” and that I had always had difficulty asking others to pray for me. I had only recently found a way to actually pray for myself.
Now I considered this humility, as I have always been sure that God had better things to do than deal with my stuff, but she pointed out to me that it just reeked of pride. I looked at her aghast (which I do tend to do, if you see me, just ask for my aghast face). But after thinking about it for a long time (something else I tend to do), I realized that she is right. I don’t avoid prayers for myself because I’m not worthy; I do it because I feel that I can deal with it. I don’t need God; I’ve got this.
Now, even I am not so full of myself that I feel superior to Him, so I wanted to find a better understanding of what it means to be humble. As it turns out, Benjamin Franklin also had trouble with this. In his Autobiography, he recounts how, as a young man, he created a plan to reach moral perfection. He created a list of 12 virtues that he wanted to achieve. Virtues such as temperance, frugality, justice, cleanliness, etc. Once he started checking off his worksheet, he was informed that he was ‘generally thought proud…that I was not content with being in the right …but was overbearing and rather insolent,” so Franklin added Humility as a 13th virtue.
Franklin, almost immediately, found out how difficult it was to achieve any of his virtues, but he particularly had issues with humility.
In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases; it is still alive and will peep out and show itself; for even if I could conceive myself that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility. (The Autobiography)
But beyond the difficulty of being humble, Franklin also wrote about “a workaround” that he perfected. If he couldn’t actually be humble, Franklin found that pretending to be humble had almost the same effect. Franklin wrote, “I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the reality of this virtue, but I had a good deal of success with regard to the appearance of it.” (The Autobiography).
Humility Is Something You Do
And, as it turns out, the Bible actually makes the same argument. Humility is not something we are; it is something we do. Colossians 3:12-13 “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones…compassionate hearts, kindness, HUMILITY, meekness, and patience.” One of the most famous bible references to humility comes from 2 Chronicles 7:14. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways…I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
What links these verses together, and also the verse from Micah above, is that these are all action verbs. One must actively humble oneself. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul defines this as to “in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (2:3). This includes promoting the thoughts, words, ideas, and lives of others as being of more importance than your own. And let me tell you, as someone with strong thoughts, this is not easy. You must pause, think, actively decrease yourself in your own mind, and then, most importantly, listen. And this needs to be done, not only with friends and family, but in your relationship with God. You must actively ‘put on’ the coat of humility in order to walk with God in a mindset to actually hear what He has to say.
When God Does the Humbling
And trust me, this action is much preferable to the alternative. In many ways, the last year has been a tough one for me. I’ve had four cancerous moles removed, have had a resurgence of Type II Diabetes, and have had brain surgery to repair a leak. I am not telling you this in search of sympathy, but to explain how God has chosen to humble me. The Bible makes it clear that your choices are to humble yourself or God can do it for you. “And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, the he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart.” (Deut. 8:2). It has become increasingly clear that God has sent me scary, but not imminently lethal, issues to prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I don’t got this. I need him; I need the prayers of those who care for me and love Him, and not to seek these out is pure, unadulterated selfishness on my part.
So, if we converse in the future, I apologize in advance if my responses seem self-assured and cocky, but do give me a chance to take a breathe, clear my mind, and ask for your thoughts. Franklin gave as his definition of humility, “Imitate Jesus and Socrates,” and as we have heard from Jesus, I would like to conclude with Socrates, and my new plan “Wisdom flows from curiosity, humility, and a passion for seeking truth.”
So feel free to pray for me in these and all things, as I will continue to pray for you.
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