In our so-called enlightened society of the 21st century, many people keep making the unfortunate mistake of confusing humility for low self esteem, meekness for weakness. As we await to celebrate Christmas, let us not forget this most important virtue that made God Himself to become mortal for our own good. A Creator becoming a creature. A Master becoming a servant. The perfectly rich becoming poor to the extent of being born in a manger. If God can be humble enough to become like us poor creatures, then how much more we who claim to be His followers? Let’s think about this deeply. For indeed “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6 RSV)
Below are some thought-provoking quotes on humility:
IN Paradise there are many Saints who never gave alms on earth: their poverty justified them. There are many Saints who never mortified their bodies by fasting, or wearing hair shirts: their bodily infirmities excused them. There are many Saints too who were not virgins: their vocation was otherwise. But in Paradise there is no Saint who was not humble. ~Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo
Humility is the only virtue that no devil can imitate. If pride made demons out of angels, there is no doubt that humility could make angels out of demons. ~Saint John Climacus
The gate of Heaven is very low; only the humble can enter it. ~Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.
(James 4:10 RSV)
“Jesus is your friend. The Friend. With a human heart, like yours. With loving eyes that wept for Lazarus. And he loves you as much as he loved Lazarus.” Saint Josemaría Escrivá — Godwin Delali Adadzie is a Catholic living in Ghana, West Africa. A former smoker (Fish smoker now a Vegetarian) but still loves to drink a lot (of water). He attempts to blog at the Fair (HubBlogs with GADEL), the Good (Blessed Virgin our Mother Mary Immaculate), the Bad (GADEL Said What?) and the Ugly (Catholic Fiction: Responding to Myths & Half-Truths)
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://ignitumtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/GADEL-e1313956313253.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Godwin Delali Adadzie, also known as GADEL, was baptized as an Evangelical Presbyterian (1986) and is now a Roman Catholic (1999), although he spent most of his childhood life in Kabbalah and Paganism. He attended the Methodist University College of Ghana and has a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology. He loves apologetics, drawing and humour. He strongly believes that faith and reason are two sides of the same coin. He blogs at HubBlogs with GADEL and also GADEL Said What?.[/author_info] [/author]
2 thoughts on “Humility Still Matters”
I often think of humility as my “pet virtue” in the respect that it’s something I am sure I am lacking and must keep in mind so that I may always work to be humble. Thank you for this post. It’s so true that people seem to confuse humility with low self-esteem. Over the years, I have come to understand that one actually needs a healthy self esteem in order to be truly humble.
Thank you Michelle for sharing with us over here. We are all a work in progress. The Holy Spirit hasn’t finished with us. We just have to have the courage to allow Him to continue to mold and shape us into the very likeness of Jesus our Lord and our God.
Cheers!