Meditation Monday – May 10, 2021

“Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it…Just do it quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your god, who conceivedyou in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.” 

Matthew 6:1,4 – The Message

The paradox and the outrageous claims in the lyrics below to “Its Hard to be Humble” by Mac Davis always get a chuckle out of me. They are absolutely absurd and if they are sung off key by someone at the top of their lungs I laugh even harder!

Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble
when you’re perfect in every way
I can’t wait to look in the mirror
cause I get better looking each day
to know me is to love me
I must be a….

 All levity aside, humility is kind of hard to talk about.  In fact, as the song demonstrates, if we think we are humble we can find ourself on a slippery slope to pride. So why is humility something a Jesus follower would desire? I believe it may have something to do with a desire to be like Jesus in the way he practiced a hidden way of love as opposed to power. 

What exactly is humility? Adele Calhoun says “humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. Humble people let go of image management and self-promotion. They honor others by making the other’s needs as real and important as their own.”

What does the practice of humility look like? Humility looks like this: refraining from image management, keeping silent about accomplishments, backing away from being the center of attention, avoiding favoritism  and honoring others. Let’s quitely practice these disiciplines together and learn what it means to choose the hidden way of love like Jesus demonstrates throughout the Gospels. It is a practice, and Lord it is truly hard to be humble!