Human Development
Humility
Description:
It is said that, claiming none of his good qualities as his own, the humble person attributes all good to God. Otherwise mortifications, penances and so on would simply be a source of self esteem and lead to fruitless comparison with others. Humility is a characteristic mark of charity, a necessary condition for love, while at the same time love makes possible true humility. True humility does not entail a false or pretended low opinion of one's self, nor self-loathing. What is felt is lowliness as unimportance with respect to God, a reverence for glory, and a self-emptying which is the opposite of pride and self-centredness.St John of the Cross says that, while all who set out on the spiritual path will make mistakes, although some have more imperfections than others, those who are humble make progress and have their spiritual life built up. They are not self-satisfied with their own behaviour, while they respect the progress of others. They are not over concerned with what others are doing, certainly not judging them in comparison with themselves. They are only sad when they do not serve God as well as others do. They are always ready to assist others to serve God. Whatever their good deeds, they know that God deserves all and that there is actually very little they can do for Him. Simply desiring to please God, they have the wisdom of God's Spirit living within them. They have the grace to keep God's treasures in secret while expelling from themselves all that is evil. Even if they do fall into sin they set their hope in God and behave towards Him with humility, meekness and reverence.
Although humility is a quality that cannot be gained by seeking, it can arise from a spiritual shift occurring through service to accentuate the good of others. It is the best defence against despair, since all selfishness disappears and therefore all self-pity which is the basis of despair. It also destroys self-centredness, thus giving the possibility of joy. The humble receive praise with no embarrassment, since they know that the good in themselves comes from God. They are no longer concerned with themselves, but with God and with reality as it is and not how they would like it to be. This brings freedom from fear - fear of failure, fear of themselves. They are confident in God's power against which there can be no obstacle and compared with which no other power has meaning.
Humility involves accepting one's self for the person one is and not attempting to be someone else. This would mean saying that one knows better than God. One just has to be the person God intended one to be. This honesty of approach may lead to the charge of pride, and the anguish is to keep balanced, not getting tough about continuing to be one's self and not asserting the false self against the false self of others. Defending the false self brings loss of peace of heart. Taking one's self too seriously makes one the prisoner of one's own vanity, one sees others' sins and faults to bolster up one's own ideas of one's self. Humility brings freedom from all this, from attachment to one's own works. There is perfect joy in self-forgetting. Paying no more attention to one's own activities, reputation and excellence brings freedom to serve God in perfection for His own sake.
Related:
ServiceIntegrityMagnanimity