Thoughts on Humility

 1.  There is nothing more beautiful than a truly humble person. False humility disconnects you from people: false humility hides your true gifts to people who could benefit from them. True humility, instead, gives to others what you really have, not what you don’t have. True humility, because it comes from a true awareness of yourself, does not promise things that you cannot do or things that you cannot give.

There are some who look humble because they want to stay away from work, or because they want to stay away from people. “I am not good for this or that, leave me alone.” Contrarywise, there are some who look generous because they want to be needed, but they promise more than they can actually give.

Humility is a moderate estimation of ourselves coming from truly knowing ourselves. It is not opposed to self-esteem but is the only true self-esteem. When you are truly humble, you know what you have, and how much of it you have. And, if you are generous, you will offer it to others.

2.  Humility is always possible, no matter how many gifts you have. If you are really wise, you know there are many things that you don’t know. If you are rich, you know that your possessions are a temporary gift: they neither ensure your life nor your ability to enjoy your riches. If you are holy, you know that there might be someone holier than you, that your spiritual gifts are precisely gifts which you did not deserve and could not deserve, that other sinners may respond better than you to those gifts of God if they received them.

3.  Humility is openness to the mercy of God.[1] Humility is an awareness of your limitation that allows you to receive mercy. When you are aware of your limitation (be it sin, weakness, illness, poverty, or anything), then you can ask God for what you need. When you know where it hurts, then you can ask the doctor. Those who are not aware of what they need, those who think that they are ok and need nothing, cannot receive mercy.

Sometimes we think that, before God, we need to pile up our good works or convince ourselves and God that we have done everything we had to do, and that we have left nothing outside. As if we were afraid of being caught with nothing in front of God. And we leave God with nothing to do, as if we didn’t need any help from Him… And God knows our nakedness, our illnesses, our weaknesses, our sins… we don’t know them, we don’t see them, we are afraid of seeing them. And if we did see them, we would run away from God, like Adam in the Garden of Eden.

“I have come to call, not the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” “It is not the healthy who are in need of a doctor, but the sick are.” “Blessed are the poor, those who mourn, those who are hungry…” That which the world considers a shame is what allows us to be looked at with love by God. The eyes of the Lord are on the poor, on those who need Him, on those who can be loved because they realize their need for love.

4.  In this way, that which is cause of shame in front of others becomes the cause of our glory. Shame is based on fear of disapproval and rejection, whereas glory is rejoicing in the loving attention of others. God has His eyes on those whom people usually reject. When you are humble and in need, God’s loving eyes are on you. What people consider your shame is what attracts God’s loving attention, what gives you glory, perhaps not from people, but certainly from God.

Finally, Jesus took the place of the poor, so that we, like God, may glorify the poor with our love. We must be the instruments of God’s mercy for the poor, the lonely and the disadvantaged. When we are with them, the poor should never feel ashamed but happy that we prefer them. When we see Jesus in the poor, God sees Jesus in ourselves…

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[1] For the following thoughts, I am inspired in Dr. Kevin Majeres, “Purity is Possible,” video series available online at https://youtu.be/v9uYbeGZxy4?si=E8TXZFVwGo64PAet