Humility comes from the Latin word humilis, meaning “low”.

It is the quality of being

humble, and means putting the needs of another person before your own, and thinking of
others before yourself. It is a virtue opposite of pride. Being humble is acknowledging that
we need God’s help, knowing that we can’t truly succeed only with our own strength, and
that we are not always right. Humility allows us to see the dignity and worth of others. It
lets us go more than halfway to meet the needs and demands of others. It bridges
relationships that were separated by angry words. It dissipates anger and heals old
wounds. It is our weapon against evil since being humble is something that we can do
that Satan can’t imitate.
Humility comes in many forms. Some examples are:
 A valedictorian who accepts his award thanking God, his parents, his teachers,
and the people in his life for his success.
 A leader gives credit where it is due and is open to collaboration.
 A gifted photographer who receives compliments says thank you but always
remarks about how fun it was to take pictures for the people in the photos and how
they made it easy to take great pictures.
 A person who help a friend, and do charitable and generous acts toward other
people without boasting them.
 When we blame someone for the error we made, and admit our mistake and ask
that person for forgiveness.
 Mother Teresa gave up her comfortable life in the convent in order to live with the
poorest of the poor on the streets of Calcutta, taking care of the very sick and
dying, and of the people with whom no one else wanted to bother.
Humbling ourselves is not easy because there is always a barrier, pride. Pride’s
been defined as a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own
achievement or qualities or possessions that are widely admired. It is an inwardly directed
emotion that can easily offend others and carries with it a connotation that displays an
inflated sense of one’s worth or personal status and typically makes one feel a sense of
superiority over others. It is pride that is said to be the root of all sins. It is rebellion against
God because it attributes to self the honor and glory due to God alone. It is a
preoccupation with self. It is all about “me, myself, and I.” Pride tends to say to itself
subconsciously, “I’m not weak, I’m not needy, I’m not insufficient, I’m not imperfect, I’m
not faulty, I’m not ignorant.” These denials are manifestations of an exaggerated ego.
Some situations that show that we are proud are:
 When we spent more time thinking about ourselves than about God or about other
people
 When we make ourselves the center of most conversations
 When we think we deserve more of the world’s good things than other people do
 When we think we don’t really need God or other people
 When we make sure that others are aware of our achievements and possessions
  When we preserve a perceived reputation because of fear in what others may think
 When we envy someone who has something more or something better
 When we didn’t see our own errors and sins
Those are only few. Listing actions that shows pride could go on and on. Pride is a sin to
be hated. Humility is exactly what we need to live in peace and harmony with other people.
However, acting with humility should not in any way deny our own self-worth.
Humility should recognize and accept the work of God for what it is, and lives accordingly.
But if we become excessively modest, if we belittle ourselves, if we devalued estimate
ourselves, that is already self-deprecation, and that is also not good.
Self-deprecation sometimes called “false modesty” or “false humility.” It is
motivated by a fear of being inadequate. Sometimes we use this to draw attention to
ourselves or to dig for compliments. We present ourselves as “lower than others” to
prevent our peers from being disappointed to us. We also tend to believe that if we attack
our own imperfections first, then no one else can attack us. However, God doesn’t want
us, and we shouldn’t be mean to ourselves. God wants us to see ourselves as His
creation. He wants us to recognize, appreciate, and be thankful for the talents, gifts, and
blessings that He granted us. But when we self-deprecate, we deny all of these, and we
do see ourselves of less importance and insignificant. If we’ve given a talent, we should
use it and be the trustee of it.
What C. S. Lewis once told, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking
of yourself less,” summarizes it all. Humble man characterizes by his silence, his control
over his life, his leadership, his servanthood, his learning spirit, his gentle strength, his
desire for greatness, and his size before God.
 He is silent - he may be accomplished but he does not boast, and he takes time to
listen to others rather than brag about himself.
 He is in control - he does not live his life with pride and vanity, instead humility is
in charge of his life
 He is a true leader - he is not a boss who is someone who makes others do
something he would never do. He is a leader who does everything with those who
follow him, never asking them to do something he would not.
 He serves willingly - he serves others and he does so happily.
 He is correctable - he learns willingly. He thinks that there’s always room for
improvement. He makes a mistake, and he says “teach me.” He wants to learn
from others, and from every single one of his mistakes. He views failure as a
stepping stone to ultimate success.
 He is gentle - he has a gentle heart. Though he may have great strength, he does
not showcase it. When he is with the weak, he acts with gentleness to assure their
safety.
  He is a pursuer of greatness - he is content in many things, but he never be content
with himself - his character. He searches for self-betterment, strength, intelligence,
and more humility, all for the purpose of helping others.
 He is small before his God and the universe - he live his life following God. He
walks with God and recognizes God’s greatness.

Admittedly, humility is out of fashion in today’s world. However, humility is our

responsibility. It is a choice, and so is pride. We must aspire to develop a humble soul
and guard our hearts against pride; for God resists the proud but gives grace to the
humble. Humility is our greatest friend - it makes us happy, gives us peaceful life and lead
us closer to God.
Developing into a humble individual doesn’t happen overnight. We always need to
forsake pride and submit ourselves to God, accepting that we owe our lives to Him. But,
we have to take a stand! We should humble ourselves or God will do it for us. We have
to cultivate humility to become the best version of ourselves.