It’s Hard To Be Humble…Enough

I follow a lot of runners on social media. Runners tend to be a very positive group, avoiding (mostly) the fractious debates, political and otherwise, ubiquitous on these platforms.

A typical exchange between runners on Twitter would go something like this:

Runner 1 -“I ran five miles in the snow this morning.”

Runner 2 – “Awesome!”

Runner 3 – “Way to go!”

Runner 4 – “You rock!”

And so on.

The encouragement is wonderful, but I sometimes wonder if the posts describing my runs are boastful.

I could avoid social media posting to steer clear of bragging but my real-life discussions with runner friends are similar. One surefire way to start a conversation with a runner is to ask him about his next race. Or his last race. Or how his training is going.

For the second time in my life, I selected a word to focus on and ponder this year. My word is “humility“. I need to consider this word. I want to cultivate a more humble spirit. My sense of entitlement sometimes gets out of hand. I need the reminder I am an infinitesimal part of something much bigger than my own puny self.

My goal is to empty myself of my “self“, the self that can lead to selfishness, self-absorption, self-righteousness, and being self-centered. By being empty, we give God’s light room to shine through us.

Jesus knew it; he lived his life with a humble servant’s heart. A humble person longs to be like Christ but also understands humility works in the temporal world too.

A humble, honest person is easy to be around, easy to follow. We need leaders with a healthy dose of humility.

Too often unwarranted pride results in the easy dismissal of the arrogant.

Maybe this quote from William Law says it best: “You can have no greater sign of confirmed pride than when you think you are humble enough.”

 

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