Humility

Reading time: 5 mins

"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." - C. S. Lewis

If one could identify any set of key obstacles to human progress, solidarity and harmony, human pride would surely appear somewhere near the top of the list.

To preface this, of course in any clear discussion of the topic we must draw a careful distinction; we are not referring to being ‘proud’ of certain achievements, but rather the type of pride typified by an inflated ego and self-infatuation. Humanity suffers when its individual parts deem themselves as too important or glorious for others.

Not only is pride an enemy of solidarity and friendship, it also blinds us to that which could benefit our development as humans, that which we are too prideful to learn. It can be the enemy of opportunity, and the ultimate destroyer of our innate instinct to keep on growing.

The opposite of pride, of course, is humility. To be humble, as the great C. S. Lewis points out, is to recognise that we are not the centre of the universe. Whilst it is good to recognise what we may have achieved and how we got there, it is also important to recognise that part of how2behuman is to acknowledge that we only exist as a sum of parts. Other people have helped to build us up and formed a platform for whatever we achieve. There is a whole world out there full of people to serve and bless, whom in turn can help us grow.

If we are self-centred in our thinking, it becomes difficult to see this, and we are literally blinded by ourselves. The Bible tells us that ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.’[1] Learning from this verse means humbling ourselves to recognise that God is on the throne, and that we humans are only called to be part of his creation alongside another, and not the centre of it.

[1] Proverbs 1:7