Off-balance

Pride and humility are like two ends of a teeter-totter, or the extremes of a swinging pendulum. Just when I think I might have some humility, I flip the other direction. As pride sneaks in, well everyone knows that pride leads to a fall.

Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor. (Proverbs 18:12)

Humility is a good thing, but it is like stepping on your shadow. Every time I think I’m there, it moves. Like many, I still get my definition wrong. Humility becomes the opposite of pride, which is thinking too highly of myself (Romans 12:3). That is, humility is thinking very low thoughts of myself. However, that is not humility at all. It is a selfish, all-about-me kind of thinking.

I’ve met a few people that seem humble, but Jesus modeled humility perfectly. Paul described it in Philippians with these words . . . 

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1–4)

Humility is not having a low opinion of myself — it is not thinking about myself at all. It is affection and sympathy for others, loving them and trying to stay on the same page with them. It is not about outdoing others or thinking vain thoughts about me. It is, again, not thinking about myself at all.

And therein lies the rub. How do you not think about someone you spend 24/7 with, someone that you know more about than anyone else? How do you not think about your biggest obstacle to being a better follower of Christ — yourself?

The key is in those six words, “not only to his own interests” which means taking timeouts from what turns my crank. It isn’t wrong to work on being a better person, but part of that task is listening to and being interested in what other people do and talk about, caring about their concerns and adapting myself to their needs and interests.

At my age, it seems I should be better at this. Jesus, You are the expert. I’m not good at humility. The pride side of my seesaw has far more weight than the humble side. Your Word continually says, “humble yourself” yet this is not easy. Please help with this “less of me and more of You” because I’m not very good at it without You.