Humble Yourselves

             Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:10)

 

            True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.

 

            This is the verse of the day from Biblegateway.com, and it seems there are three possible responses.

Ugh. (Guilt or shame)

Nope! (Rebellion or rejection)

Ah. (Relief, hope)

            Consider C.S. Lewis’ statement about humility. Now, apply it. Your goal is to humble yourself, to think less about yourself. How do you think about yourself less without paying constant attention to how much you think about yourself? How do you think less about yourself without thinking more about yourself by monitoring what you’re doing at all times? 

            Dallas Willard suggested that often work on ourselves must be indirect. You don’t become humble by focusing on yourself being humble. Instead, as Brother Lawrence suggested,  you become humble by turning your thoughts away from  yourself when  you happen to catch  yourself thinking about you. It’s not that we spend a half an hour scolding ourselves for being so proud, it’s more of a case of “Oh, I’m thinking about myself. Well, Father, I lift my friend, _________ up to  You. He’s having a hard time and needs Your touch.” Or, “I’m thinking about myself. Oh, look, how pretty that flower is…” Or, “I’m thinking about myself. Lord, conform me to the image of Your Son.” Or even, “I’m thinking about myself. What needs to be done next?”

            Another way this indirect approach may be helpful is with the tendency we have to want things, whether to have this, or own that, or eat something else. We can distract ourselves as above, or declare that it’s OK to want that thing, but we’re not going to have it right now. “We wants it” may not be a sufficient reason for our getting it. And, when the time is right, God may give it to us but if we pursue it instead of Him, we’re likely to get in His way.